Hello my name is Amanda. Today was my first time to use buzzy. My Question is i am wondering if i did something wrong because my two year old still felt the pain? He received shots in the upper front of his thigh. I held buzzy along with the blue wings for 20 seconds then moved up towards the right the nurse gave the shots he received three back to back though he didn't cry long so i know it did help with some pain relief. His nurse seems to think it didn't work put i feel it did a little bit with pain. I am going back next week for my four year old to get shots so i am wondering if there was some kind of tip you could give me to making it pain free for him.
Thank you
Amanda

Hi, Amanda-

It doesn't sound as if you did anything wrong. First, on average Buzzy reduces pain by 50% in the intravenous trials, so not everyone has complete pain relief.

Second, the blue wings should be frozen for older kids and anyone who can tolerate the coldness. When they're not frozen, they just absorb vibratoin so you don't get as much effect. We've found ice gives about 60% of numbing, the vibration gives about 40%. Unfortunately, not only do younger children have thinner skin which makes them less likely to tolerate the cold, our research is showing that the ice cold that modulates adult pain probably isn't present in birth, but grows over time.

We have plenty of patients who have given us good feedback in babies and toddlers, but this is definitely also the age group where most people ask us if they're doing any thing wrong. Younger children have more anxiety tied up in not understanding, and because of the ice thing younger children simply are missing out physiologically on part of what Buzzy can do.

Finally, people who give shots a lot have gotten used to doing things the fastest way. I'd like to believe that we're all compassionate people at heart who don't want to hurt kids, and over and over I've seen that shot-givers have convinced themselves that a) shots aren't a big deal and b) that the way they give them is the best. Since your nurse may be invested in the belief that fast without numbing is best, it will be harder for her to believe that Buzzy is better.

As for your 4 year old, let them play with Buzzy before hand and get a practice "booster" (not "shot") with a toothpick. Then they can decide if they want the ice pack, or even try filling the white ice packs with water and freezing them to use the softer side instead.

Hope this helps!