If there was a “king” of bad veins, I would be the Emperor. Usually it takes about 6 pokes to get mine. Half the time they use a small ultrasound machine to find a vein.
After all that I’m happy to say I found a solution that works (for me anyway) 100% of the time…pump some iron (weights). You don’t need to be a body-builder like Arnold to have veins popping out all over your arms. You don’t even need to push yourself to the limits. Just do approximately 30-40 reps a day. I personally use enough weight to do 10 reps at a time. Of course you can do more if you choose. If you do this 5 times a week you should start to see the veins coming to the surface. Even if they aren’t popping out yet, you’ll notice you can see them now.
The fat that you have in your arm is going down at the same time your muscle is moving up. Plus since more oxygen is needed after lifting your veins become larger (to compensate for more oxygen return).
This is extremely easy. I do these reps while I’m at home watching tv. You don’t even need a dumbbell. Just find a bag, (like a plastic grocery bag) put a few things in for the weight, and do these exercises while you’re at home. You should easily start to notice your veins more after a week or so…depending on your body mass.
I usually get stuck several times before they hit a vein.
I was in the hospital in Feb 2016. A recuperative care unit after surgery. Developed a post op infection. Needed an IV for my antibiotics. They stuck me three times.
Then, they called a lady with a vein locating machine. No joke. It was similar to an ultrasound. She found a deep vein in seconds and started the IV on the inside of my forearm.
Apparently it’s fairly new and expensive. They aren’t on every ward. This lady was from a different area in the hospital.
Experienced blood drawer here.
You have to be pretty danged dehydrated for it to make a difference. It is very unlikely that this were the case if you are generally healthy (as opposed to being hospitalized with a serious illness).
When the phlebotomist preemptively expresses pessimism about obtaining a successful blood draw, he or she is probably - at least in part - warning you/making excuses for why it may not happen.
Go ahead and drink up beforehand; it won’t hurt. Who knows, maybe it will help.
But some folks are just extremely challenging to get blood from.
By the way, there are some gadgets nowadays that aid in locating iffy veins. The really do work. Veinlite is one.
mmm
ETA: I see **Aceplace **mentioned the fancy vein finder in the post before mine
Not challenging Mean Mr. Mustard’s comments about whether it will make a difference, but when I went for blood tests about a month ago and they had to draw a dozen or so vials (I counted 35 blood tests checked off on the req) the phlebotomists (more than one tried) had a lot of trouble getting my veins to behave and ended up with several lovely bruises afterwords. One of the phlebotomists told me I was dehydrated and to drink a lot before I came next time. I was actually somewhat dubious myself whether that was the reason.
Got to get more blood tests (not a lot this time) next week, so we’ll see what happens.
I know this is a zombie, but thought I’d add a “fun” anecdote. In my experience, health care workers aren’t any better than the average human when something makes their job harder. Case in point:
Some years ago I had surgery that required general anesthesia. The whole thing went well from start to finish from my perspective. But as they were wheeling me out of recovery and into the nursing unit, I was groggy and still waking up but I remember this clearly. The anesthesiologist stomped over to my gurney and snarled “next time tell the doctors that you’re hard to intubate” and then stomped away again. Never saw him again. After I gained enough lucidity to think about that I marveled that he actually thought I KNEW I was hard to intubate and was withholding this life-saving information from him out of spite.
At the risk of feeding the zombie (hey, I wasn’t here in 2014!)…
I always wanted to donate blood, but I went to two different blood drives in high school (as soon as I was old enough) and “failed” both times. The first time they couldn’t find a vein at all and scolded me about not drinking enough water. (I drank plenty.) The second time, they found the vein, but I think it collapsed; I fainted and woke up in pain, and they didn’t get anywhere near a full pint out of me. For about 15 years I was too scared to try again. Then someone suggested to me that I might just need to see someone more skilled than your average blood drive worker. I did some research and found that UCLA’s Gayley Center has a really good reputation, and I made an appointment. I have now successfully donated 7 pints of blood. I’ve been turned away 2 or 3 times for insufficient hemoglobin, but every time my numbers have been adequate, they’ve been able to get a pint without any issues. I always tell them I’m a “hard stick” and request their most experienced person, and tell them I don’t mind waiting. Also I don’t need to chug water. Moral of the story: the hydration thing is a myth; you just need a better phlebotomist.
I don’t care if the thread is old, I haven’t seen it before. I always thought I was hard to stick, but wow, reading some of your stories, phlebotomists must love me.
That being said, I’ve had people go fishing for veins, and it sucks. I always ask for an experienced phlebotomist when I need to have blood drawn. Also, I think it helps not only to drink more water, but to eat salt. I think it increases my blood pressure a bit, and makes the veins a little plumper.
Moderator Note
This thread was bumped by a spammer who has since been wished away to the cornfield.