Conquering Your Fear of Needles Prior to Cancer Treatment
A fear of needles is bad enough at the best of times but there are usually ways to avoid being stabbed by a needle for most treatments.
The trouble is, needles are often the best way of getting something into your body in the precise position that they need to be in order to be as effective as possible.
This goes for parts of the treatment of cancer.
So how do you overcome your fear of needles so that you can allow yourself to be treated for something that's potentially life threatening? Hypnosis for needle phobia This is a good place to start.
It's remarkably effective and pretty cheap.
A hypnosis download can be found online for a handful of dollars and the success rate in overcoming needle phobia using hypnosis is high.
Or you could visit your local hypnotherapist if you prefer.
Either way, you'll know quite fast whether this is a way that you can personally conquer your fear of needles.
Cognitive behavioural therapy This is a more extreme method that you can use to conquer your fear.
It involves desensitizing you so that your fear doesn't envelop you and you're not left quaking at the thought of having an injection.
Look away Corny as this sounds, it's a good way of dealing with things especially if your needle phobia isn't too strong.
Whether the injection is for a dentist, a cancer treatment or anything else, look the other way.
Chances are that you'll feel the cold of the swab that sterilizes your skin more than you'll feel the actual injection and there's a very high chance that you'll be asking your nurse or doctor when the worrying event is due to happen and will be told "we've done it already.
" Bring a friend Especially with cancer patients, most doctors and nurses are very sympathetic to the needs of patients.
Much like when you were a child, bringing a friend or colleague to the surgery with you can be very reassuring.
Knowing that someone is there to look after you - even though your rational mind keeps telling you that they're only there for show - can be the difference between facing up to the much-needed injection and not.
Allow yourself to cry Crying is one of our body's release mechanisms.
So it may well help to have a little weep when the deed is taking place.
Either bring your own tissues or use some that the surgery will almost certainly have available for just such as situation.
There's a good chance that the mere act of crying (out loud or to yourself) will diminish the perceived pain of having an injection.
Distract yourself If your doctor or nurse will allow it - and there's a good chance that they will - play something to yourself on headphones.
Ideally something light and bouncy to keep your mind focussed elsewhere.
As with the looking away idea earlier, there's a better than average chance that this technique will reduce or even eliminate the fear that you used to associate with needles.
The trouble is, needles are often the best way of getting something into your body in the precise position that they need to be in order to be as effective as possible.
This goes for parts of the treatment of cancer.
So how do you overcome your fear of needles so that you can allow yourself to be treated for something that's potentially life threatening? Hypnosis for needle phobia This is a good place to start.
It's remarkably effective and pretty cheap.
A hypnosis download can be found online for a handful of dollars and the success rate in overcoming needle phobia using hypnosis is high.
Or you could visit your local hypnotherapist if you prefer.
Either way, you'll know quite fast whether this is a way that you can personally conquer your fear of needles.
Cognitive behavioural therapy This is a more extreme method that you can use to conquer your fear.
It involves desensitizing you so that your fear doesn't envelop you and you're not left quaking at the thought of having an injection.
Look away Corny as this sounds, it's a good way of dealing with things especially if your needle phobia isn't too strong.
Whether the injection is for a dentist, a cancer treatment or anything else, look the other way.
Chances are that you'll feel the cold of the swab that sterilizes your skin more than you'll feel the actual injection and there's a very high chance that you'll be asking your nurse or doctor when the worrying event is due to happen and will be told "we've done it already.
" Bring a friend Especially with cancer patients, most doctors and nurses are very sympathetic to the needs of patients.
Much like when you were a child, bringing a friend or colleague to the surgery with you can be very reassuring.
Knowing that someone is there to look after you - even though your rational mind keeps telling you that they're only there for show - can be the difference between facing up to the much-needed injection and not.
Allow yourself to cry Crying is one of our body's release mechanisms.
So it may well help to have a little weep when the deed is taking place.
Either bring your own tissues or use some that the surgery will almost certainly have available for just such as situation.
There's a good chance that the mere act of crying (out loud or to yourself) will diminish the perceived pain of having an injection.
Distract yourself If your doctor or nurse will allow it - and there's a good chance that they will - play something to yourself on headphones.
Ideally something light and bouncy to keep your mind focussed elsewhere.
As with the looking away idea earlier, there's a better than average chance that this technique will reduce or even eliminate the fear that you used to associate with needles.