# There's a scene in a visual media you're watching that shows a needle going into a human's vein. Are you able to watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360 "2026-11-02T22:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/21 "2026-11-03T01:39:36Z")
> [@aruvqan\_myers](#): > > Diabetic, am very sccustomed to jabbing myself, on video it is nothing =) Yeah, but that’s not into a vein. A vein’s the tuff stuff. At least for me. I’d watch the bloodiest most horrifying medical procedure on myself or anyone else. No problem. I think it’s interesting. But a needle? Into a vein? Even when it’s someone else or fake (on TV)? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/22 "2026-11-03T01:52:13Z")
I can inject myself; have no problem at all being injected by someone else (even when it’s clumsily executed by a newish nurse/whatever); fairly certain I could inject someone else although I’ve never had to; can watch movie and real life injections of other people. But god help me _if I watch_ someone else inject me- it triggers a vasovagal syncope (I pass out). Go figure ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/23 "2026-11-03T02:08:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well..for the past year I had to watch a needle go into my own eyeball every other month…so… OK, that, I would have a lot of difficulty with. I wouldn’t be grossed out, per se, but the flinch reflex when something is near one’s eye is a strong one. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/24 "2026-11-03T02:23:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, that, I would have a lot of difficulty with. I wouldn’t be grossed out, per se, but the flinch reflex when something is near one’s eye is a strong one. Technically I’m looking in the opposite direction as the needle is inserted into the white part, not the iris. And it’s numbed ahead of time so you don’t feel it. Still a weird sensation though. Also sometimes it introduces a small air bubble. It’s harmless and goes away after a couple days, but you still see it rattling around in your vision like a Magic 8-ball. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/25 "2026-11-03T03:08:39Z")
No problems with needles anymore, although one time they had to take 6 vials and the needle kept rolling and that sensation made me wooooozy. Don’t know if I could watch myself getting stitches. That reminds me, here’s a little true life story to help you digest your Cheerios: In 2004, Zach Snyder re-made **Dawn of the Dead** [zombie film]. Ving Rhames’s character gets his arm sliced open while battling a undead. Later, the characters are chilling and Sarah Polley’s character (a nurse) finds a first aid kit to stitch up Ving’s forearm. IRL, they made a prosthetic wound and attached it to his arm, add some vampire blood - Presto! Then they brought in an actual nurse to do the stitches; she wore the Polley costume and they just filmed her hands as she went to work _and unknowingly stitched the prosthetic to his arm!_ Rhames didn’t break character, sat there through the pain and when finished asked if they could take the fake wound off his arm. Pandemonium ensued. Talk about dedication to your craft. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/26 "2026-11-03T03:34:10Z")
Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/27 "2026-11-03T04:47:07Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/28 "2026-11-03T05:02:07Z")
No, I am very squeamish. I don’t like contemporary Horror Movies as they seem to be even more graphic and squirm-inducing than ever before. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/29 "2026-11-03T06:34:53Z")
No problem here. I donated blood for decades, and now I get a blood test every 6 weeks. And I watch the needle go in, and the blood coming out. I think it is because when I was pre-K my mother took me to a clinic for allergy tests, which back then were real needles, not the patchwork of needles when I was in college. After the test she took me to the Woolworth’s next door and let me pick out a plastic dinosaur, so I associate a needle with a cool toy somewhere in my head. ---
**Author:** ![sboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sboy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/30 "2026-11-03T12:32:28Z")
I have never been able to watch this on visual media or in real life. I must be getting kinda O.C.D. because now if I see someone about to chew/place food in their mouth I look away or close my eyes. Oddly both my wife and daughter can watch cooking shows all day and watching folks chewing and eating doesn’t bother them at all. I probably should be on a Psychiatrists couch. ---
**Author:** ![MysteriousCritter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@MysteriousCritter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteriousCritter)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/31 "2026-11-03T13:00:09Z")
Watching isn’t an issue. I’ve even started a couple IVs in my life without it bothering me. I have to look away to prevent flinching when the needle goes in me, though. My issue is entirely needles going in me not needles. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/32 "2026-11-03T15:01:52Z")
I was able to watch a needle going into my vein until a tech cautioned me not to. I said that it didn’t bother me, but from that time on I haven’t been able to do it. I can’t watch in on film either. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/33 "2026-11-03T15:07:24Z")
Last time I had blood drawn, it took three fruitless tries and they finally took it out on the top of my hand. I was black and blue like I’d been in a car wreck! But I didn’t mind watching…I just watched ‘Halloween II’ for the first time the other day and they showed closeups twice at least, of a needle going into Jamie Lee Curtis’ arm. Maybe they thought that would boost the scare factor. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/34 "2026-11-03T15:08:03Z")
When I was young I developed a serious bee allergy, that put me in the emergency with anaphylaxis twice. As a result I went through Venom Immunotherapy (VIT), a twice weekly injection of bee venom into my arms for 18 months that left me immune to both bee stings and concern over needles. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/35 "2026-11-03T16:05:14Z")
I could never watch. I always avert my eyes. After many operations over the years I am reasonably OK getting a shot or drawing blood today but I look the other way. If I feel the slightest prick I tense up immediately. I have passed out but that was when I was young. Fortunately most people drawing blood are very good at what they do. I always let them know if they did a good job. There are shots to help with ED and my urologist tells me they are quite effective. They sound great but there is no way I could even think about getting an injection down there. Maybe if I dated a nurse… ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/36 "2026-11-03T16:07:23Z")
No issues watching needles go into arms, whether mine or someone else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/37 "2026-11-03T17:25:10Z")
Nope nope nope a thousand times nope. I can’t even look at a picture of a hypodermic. I’ve gotten hundreds of IVs in my life and it never gets easier. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/38 "2026-11-03T17:58:47Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > But at the same time, I have crippling hemophobia, or at least a weirdly specific version of it, to the point where I can literally go into shock. (I freaked out a nurse once because I was supposed to be giving blood and she could see me crashing.) To the point where even thinking about it is awful and I am going to stop typing about it now. I had a friend who was nearly that bad. When I’d see him after I’d given blood (the Red Cross bloodmobile came to our work campus quarterly), and he’d see the bandage on my arm, he’d get lightheaded and had to sit down. Or he’d tell me to come back when the bandage was off because he felt like he was going to pass out. I can watch the needle going in, but I often don’t. I’ve found it hurts less if I don’t watch. A small bit less, but it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/39 "2026-11-03T18:02:11Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > When I’d see him after I’d given blood (the Red Cross bloodmobile came to our work campus quarterly), and he’d see the bandage on my arm, he’d get lightheaded and had to sit down. I’m not usually that bad but sometimes I can be. I am pretty sure it’s due to childhood trauma from when someone slit my grandparents’ throats. They lived but stayed with us as they recovered. (Blurred because it’s pretty bad and I don’t want to maybe trigger someone else.) ---
**Author:** ![TheJobsGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@TheJobsGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheJobsGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360/40 "2026-11-03T18:26:13Z")
That’s a negative… that skin lifting thing squicks me out completely. I’ll donate blood, but have to turn my head the other way the whole time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-scene-in-a-visual-media-youre-watching-that-shows-a-needle-going-into-a-humans-vein-are-you-able-to-watch/1034360.md?page=3)