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What is Buzzy^®?

Buzzy^® uses natural pain relief by confusing your body's own nerves and distracting attention away from the poke, thereby dulling or eliminating sharp pain. In the same way that rubbing a bumped elbow helps stop the hurt, or cool running water soothes a burn, Buzzy^® bypasses sharp pain.

In an emergency department, nurses and doctors can get too busy to wait for numbing creams for needle procedures. For newly diagnosed diabetic children, the medical community has a history of expecting kids to just get used to needle pain. For shots, for bee stings, for boo-boos, for injected medicines . . . for all acute pain management, we developed Buzzy^® to put instant pain management in YOUR hands.

A pilot study in adults for IV starts in the October 2009 Clinical Journal of Pain found that Buzzy significantly decreased pain. Even more interesting, the more needle anxiety subjects had, the better Buzzy worked, with a significant reduction for each centimeter of increased anxiety on a 10 centimeter scale, suggesting those who fear needles may have more sensitive nerves.

A randomized controlled trial in children needing IV starts in the emergency department was presented at the 2010 International Society of Pediatric Pain meeting, showing significantly decreased pain by observational behavioral distress shown on videotapes, as well as child and parent report with improved IV success! Buzzy has been used for travel immunizations, fertility shots, and finger pricks, splinter removal, and flu injections with good results.

Buzzy is now being tested for immunization pain in children of all ages.

What is 10 minutes of calm worth to you?

Bee-Stractors, nee Flippits, now DistrACTION cards(TM) are 5 cards on a ring with related counting and finding questions on the back. New research proves that the disarmingly simple questions are effective enough at distracting to significantly reduce pain from medical procedures.  DistrACTION from tantrums or boredom is a cinch! How many stars do you see? Can you find an astronaut? Which cow has a plunger on its head? Beestractors are a quick and handy way for nurses, teachers, doctors or parents to break a behavior spiral or take someone's mind off a painful procedure. Even if the painful procedure is a 2 1/2 hour junior high music recital in a gym (true story. See picture.) The kind of distraction on our cards are proven to decrease pain by 50%, but having the tools close at hand right when you need them can be tough. Bee-stractors are are durable enough to tuck in a parent's pack or wear on a badge at work as a quick boredom buster, pain reliever, or emergency entertainment tantrum tamer.

To understand why Bee-Stractors work for pain as well as boredom, you first need to understand the nature of medical anxiety or distress. As seen in this diagram, distress is where pain, fear of the procedure, and attention to what's going on collide. Often you can control most of the pain in a procedure, but if a person is focused on what is happening and utterly terrified, no degree of pain relief will help. When a child loses control, their focus is everywhere: brightly colored items are quickly identified as a potential toy and something that is safe. When an adult asks a question from the back, focusing on this friendly challenge in a small space helps them regain control, to EVERYONE's relief.

Distraction can decrease pain by up to 50%. Studies have looked at video games, television, and looking at pictures. Playing a game works better than passively checking something out, but the game needs to be fast and reinforcing. This is why children's hospitals provide options such as video games, books, and specialists called Child Life professionals trained to pull attention away in age appropriate manners.

Seriously - This child has just has a chest tube removed, but is coping beautifully thanks to some intense distraction. Since we can't always whip a SuperMario out of our back pockets, Bee-Stractors provide a lightweight, age-stratified way to entertain and pull attention away from pain. There are several ways to use the Bees. For one, carry Bee-Stractors on a badge and offer the cards to a well-meaning helper. Instead of calling attention TO the pain (asking "Does that hurt? Does that hurt?"), it's better to focus AWAY. Asking "How many monkeys are actually touching the bed?" makes the focus entirely different. We show a Bee-Stractor poster here, but you get the idea. Maybe you can even figure out how many monkeys there are...

Bee-Stractors come in three different sets, with our "Monkeys" set also available in Spanish. The questions on the back are color coded by age-appropriate sections, and each set includes a red-black-white picture to help visually distract infants whose eyesight isn't yet developed. In Dr. Amy's practice, Bees have helped autistic kids focus away from what they're scared of, and are great for injections of lidocaine or calming a child in a screaming trance long after the IV is in. Start with "Hey! I have a really important question! Can you find a purple cow?" Once engaged, pass the cards off to a parent or friend and get on with taking care of business.

Since Buzzy only blocks sharp sensations, not light touch, an already freaked out person may still be distressed with dull pokes. Bee-Stractors can distract from the event, giving a welcome escape to a brightly colored place. Bee-Stractors can be placed in Buzzy's slot, which is better if a two-handed procedure makes it hard for one person to show and read at the same time. Otherwise, if someone feels more in control watching, let them watch!

What is Buzzy?

Buzzy is a very cute vibrating bee with ice pack wings that decreases sharp pain when placed upstream.

What are Bee-Stractors?

Bee-Stractors (formerly known as "Flippits") are colorful cards with finding and counting tasks, providing natural pain relief by pulling attention away from procedures. Bee-Stractors can fit inside the slot in Buzzy's tummy, although if kids' coping mechanism is to watch, let them.

How do Kazoos help pain?

Breathing out is a form of natural pain relief, made famous by Lamaze techniques.  Kazoos ramp it up a notch by providing the fun distraction of irritating everyone in hearing distance.

I got a Buzzy Kazoo and it doesn't work.

Hum through it, don't blow.  You provide the sound, the Kazoo makes it silly.

Do you really need the ice pack?  Does it really need to be frozen?

Yes.  Vibration provides about 40% of the numbing via gate theory, ice provides about 60% via descending inhibitory controls, and there is some synergy.  If the ice is just cold, it dampens vibration and you don't get the inhibition effects.   If you're just using the vibration, we suggest adding a topical anesthetic too.

How does Buzzy work?

Three ways:  1)  gate theory, like running a burn under cold water.  2) descending inhibitory controls, If you put your hand in a cooler to get an icy drink, your brain tries to dampen sensations everywhere, so your pain threshold goes up: you're less sensitive to pain.  3) distraction, when you pay attention to other sensations, curiosity overcomes anxiety and your brain allocates less attention to pain.  Add the tasks involved with Bee-Stractors and you have FOUR ways!

Does Buzzy really eliminate pain?

Nope, at least not for everyone.  We say Buzzy reduces or blocks, which is true for almost everyone.  So far we have found about 3% of people for whom Buzzy does bupkis, nothing, nada, and about 15% where people don't feel a thing.  In our IV trial, on average Buzzy decreased pain by half.  Interestingly, in our adult trial we found that the more afraid of needles someone is, the better Buzzy works.  Check out Clinical Journal of Pain October 2009.

How do you use Buzzy at the dentist?

Press him on the face, or hold him in a hand and concentrate on the hand sensations!  More details here.

Does Buzzy work for adults?

Yes.  Check out Clinical Journal of Pain October 2009.

Is there any pain research on Buzzy?

Yes.  We have a randomized trial in children which was presented at the 2009 National Conference of the AAP, and the adult pilot.  An NIH trial for immunizations in multiple age groups is underway.

Does Buzzy work for fingersticks?

No data, but when we're at conferences we offer trying Buzzy on fingertips and get reactions between "Huh!  That definitely feels different" to "Oh, my!  Come here, Rita, you gotta try this!"  Again, I do find that the more sensitive people are to sharp pain, the better Buzzy blocks the sensations.  "Poking is believing".  It's interesting who takes us up on it, and who looks at us as if we're crazy.

Does Buzzy work for itching?

Itching is transmitted on the same Adelta nerves as sharp pain, so again, no data, but try it on your next mosquito bite.

Is Buzzy a superhero?

Why, thanks for asking!  We like to think so,  as do some of our fans.  Buzzy has enabled us to decrease medical waste, decrease pain, and fight the evil-doers such as impossible to open clamshells.

Does Buzzy go on vacation?

Yes!  Buzzy has been in Mali, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Mexico, Paris, and... uh... other places.  Send us your pictures, we'll put them up too!

Can I have a free sample for my clinic/hospital/office/friend/research/Christmas Tree?

No.  Buzzy is reusable, so many clinics won't need more than one.  For research, you really don't want to have to disclose a financial conflict of interest for just $35 bucks, do you?  Besides, you can return Buzzy if you or your child fall in the 3% of non-responders.  We give 100% refunds within one month for "I don't like it", and for one year if Buzzy malfunctions in normal use.

What kind of batteries does Buzzy take? Two AAA batteries.  Unscrew three screws on the back.

How did you come up with the idea?

It involved frozen peas . . . See Dr. Baxter on the IgniteATL series, "Enlighten Us, But Make it Quick" for a quick but enlightening discussion, "Fun with Vibrators, Ice, and Pain."