Tendon hurt after blood test?
This wednesday, I got some blood drawn in my arm. When the nurse drew the blood, I noticed it hurt more and felt different than any time I had my blood taken before. It felt strange and hurt the rest of the day but, overall, it seemed alright. Then, on thursday, I noticed that when I reached for something and had to fully extend my arm or if I had to pull something, I would get a sharp pain in my arm that would last for 5-10 minutes. It seemed weird but I figured it would go away. Now it's Sunday and it has only become worse. I have a constant dull pain right around where the blood was drawn. I am unable to fully extend my arm and every time I use my arm to carry any sort of weight or if I have to extend it at all, I get a very sharp pain that goes straight down my arm. My question is what could have happened? And should I go into the doctor's to at least have it checked out? It's only become more painful and puts more of a limit on what I can do since Wednesday. Thanks.
Hitting a nerve while donating blood?
Being a phlebotomist myself for 15 years now I can tell you that if someone hit your nerve with a needle you would have about jumped out of the chair or bed that you were in. Now as far as the pain goes there are a couple of reasons that it can be painful. The first one is to do with the size of the needle that someone uses. The bigger the needle the bigger the hole going in and when giving blood they usually use a little bigger needle because it flows faster. The normal lab work blood draw uses a smaller needle. Second thing sometimes, and it is almost impossible to prevent, a person hits a gate/valve which is in all of our veins when the needle gets into the vein. The veins have lots of these gates or valves thru out them and when the needle just happens to find one it can cause the flow of blood to stop or be difficult coming into the needle and the technician has to reposition the end of the needle once inside the vein to get it to start to flow again. If you happen to get one of those types of sticks it is somewhat painful and usually clears up in a day or two. The best thing to do for it is put ice on it if it is swelling up or a little heat if it is bruising. Be careful taking anything that could cause you to bleed easier like asprin until it heals completely. Trust me phlebotomist do not like to hurt people nor do they like to have to stick people more than absolutly neccessary. Doubtful anyone is a test or practice subject. Most are not let loose on the public until they have done in a controlled classroom environment over 500 actual blood draws and they are done on the other students or volunteers. Good Luck
Blood Test Needle Hit Nerve or Tendon???
The nurse HIT something when she stuck the needle in as I had severe pain from my right side of my neck all the way down to my fingertips. I felt like I had stuck my fingers into an electrical socket & shocked myself!! The rest of the day I had electrical shocks on & off. 4 days later the shocks stopped but I have severe burning, a tearing or ripping like pain from my wrist up about 4". Dr saw me 2 days after this happened & said to bandage it & give it a rest. I appllied heat & that didn't help. I appllied ice & that took away all pain for about 1 hour. Dr said the tech could have hit a tendon also. Dr said to see how it feels in 2 weeks. Should I wait that long with this ripping tearing pain? I don't want to have lasting damage! Any similar problems like this.... Thank You!! Sue M
Can you hit a nerve pricking your finger for a blood test?
Just Pricking your finger...No But, then again it depends on if you hit a nerve. They prick a finger with a small tipped point and the area they do the pricking does not typically contain nerves (It's fleshy), whereas a needle they use to inject novocaine into your mouth is much longer and the area they're aiming for has several branched nerves that they are intentionally attempting to numb for their specific procedure. So, it depends.
When taking a blood test from your elbow, why are you asked to make a fist?
Good question!The medical term for drawing blood is 'VENIPUNCTURE'Contrary to popular belief, it is venous blood and NOT arterial blood that is drawn. The vein of choice is the MEDIAL CUBITAL VEIN. Although there are several other veins in the body, this vein is preferred because of two main reasons:1) It is a superficial vein and runs close to the skin. As a result, it can be accessed without a deep puncture. ( less pain, low risk)2)It has relatively low nerve supply. ( So, the chances of nerve damage due to the needle are avoided)This vein runs in the so called 'CUBITAL FOSSA' of the elbow.SO THAT answers the question as to WHY the ELBOW is the chosen site.Now coming to why you are required to make a fist. It is simply to increase the prominence of the vein (medial cubital vein) A more prominent vein makes it easier for the nurse to visually locate the vein and to determine the point of insertion of the needle. (Like it is a common experience to make a fist when you want to show off your biceps etc ;))The band they tie is called a 'TOURNIQUET' Normally, this vein is carrying blood away the hand (Veins carry blood away from organs to the heart) When you want to draw blood, you obviously want to restrict the blood over an area right? If it flows back, you will hardly be able to collect a sufficient sample. It also increases the prominence of the vein. Lastly, what is the purpose of the cotton swab that you must keep on the site of puncture after the procedure?Well, it is to apply a light pressure.And that is done to prevent further oozing out of blood from the vein. It is a common procedure even in surgery to apply pressure when there is bleeding from veins. This encourages clotting.I hope that answers your question. I'm only a student. I think there are a lot of people here who can answer it even better :-)
Is it normal if my arm has gone numb after my first blood test?
No, this is definitely not normal. Every once in a while, a nerve may get injuried by the needle during blood draw. This might be because the phlebotomist “missed” the vein, or it might be because a nerve happened to lie on top of or close by the vein. It is important to stress that this is a very rare, but acknowledged risk of a venipuncture and may not nescessarily mean someone was at fault.Depending on the severity of the numbness I strongly advise you to seek further medical attention. Consult a neurologist when the feeling persists. In the majority of cases, the numbness will pass within a few days or weeks without any necessary treatment. If the damage to the nerve was severe, though, the numbness might last for months or years if untreated.
Numb arm after drawing blood?
A week ago I had a blood test to verify that I was pregnant. Normally after having blood drawn there is nothing different with my arm, no pain, nothing. Well this woman hurt kind of badly when she removed the needle and for days after it felt weird. Sometimes when I moved my arm I could feel a prick in the injection site. I had to go in yesterday to have more blood work done. I told them what I was experiencing...they didn't give a ****. I had the same woman doing the blood work too. This time it did not hurt, but now any time I move my arm out of a bent position my arm feels heavy and numb. What on earth could this be? I was feeling pain in bicep too off and on, rather than in the inside of the elbow where the blood was drawn.