I'm getting my wisdom teeth out soon, and they'll be using a needle to knock me out. The problem is, I'm terrified of needles. It's less the pain and more the wrongness of something like that inside me. :icon_sad: Any advice on how to overcome this fear?
Odd, they gave me a shot to numb the feeling and gas to knock me out. The fear of needles is pretty common, my sister is pretty afraid of them. I think she just grits her teeth and sits extra still so they get it over with as quickly as possible.
When I was young I was deathly afraid of needles. When I was 10 I beat up the doctor(not intentionally, but out of reflex and fear) and 2 nurses. I did get over it mostly, though I still don't like needles much, I just grin and bare it.
I'm with ya. Fuck needles. As with you, I don't really care about the pain, I just hate the idea of a very thin piece of metal being temporarily forced through my skin.
Needles scare the shit out of me too. If it's possible, see if you can go the gas route instead of novacaine. I know I was knocked out when I got mine removed so I didn't have to worry about needles.
Hmm I was fully conscious when I got my wisdom teeth removed, they did give me a shot in the mouth to numb the pain. I don't mind needles but my friend used to be terrified of them. What she did to help was breathing steadily, count in her head (whatever distracts you) and not directly look at the needle. If your stressed it may be hard to do but I'd recommend to not tense up as much as possible.
I literally just got my wisdom teeth out today and I'm terrified of needles. Just try to relax and know that you'll fall asleep soon after the IV is hooked up to you. The doctor will take the IV out before you wake up, so that's a bit comforting.
Close your eyes and empty your mind, or think about something that relaxes you, for instance you can try to remember a social situation where you felt completly relaxed, and keep remembering it, or imagine other simmilar situations. Feel free to talk about your fear with your dentist. You are the customer there, not the victim. I do like needles, but I hate the dentist and their needles inside my mouth. My last visit was quite good because I do force myself to go often to the dentist, and focus on making it a neutral experience. You can make progress from being terrified to feeling mildly annoyed, like I felt during my last visit. Oh, this is a must... If they give you antibiotics afterwards TAKE THEM. And take good care of your mouth afterwards. Very good care. On the bright side, some people have reported it wasn't such a big deal for them. (No, I wasn't one of the lucky ones, but I also refused the antibiotics and the good care afterwards...)
even at my age I'm scared s****** out fear of needles. I cant even watch tv when some one gets a needle in them! couple weeks ago I had to get my counselor to take me to the dentist , as I 'm usually a wreck after and cant drive after that any way..also due to my self harming I have been using rubber bands and hair bands etc just so I got something else to focus on but I did have a panic attack when they put the chair all the way back!! I cant sit on recliners cause of that... have to go to a specialist to go to hospital to get the tooth out.. ! funny though, I've been thru 2 open heart operations, a spinal cord operation and many ear operations yet the dentist still scares the S*** out of me.. :bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang:
