# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:31pm 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/1034360/41 "2026-11-03T18:31:31Z")
Yes, I’m going to watch. Doesn’t give me a squick factor. Certain piercings for body art purposes (e.g. to cartilige) might make me squint, though. ---
**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, 6:47pm 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/1034360/42 "2026-11-03T18:47:46Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > 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. Wow, that’s a pretty heavy trauma. Glad they survived! ---
**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, 6:50pm 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/1034360/43 "2026-11-03T18:50:13Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Glad they survived! Thanks. They’re dead now but from getting old. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 7:34pm 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/1034360/44 "2026-11-03T19:34:57Z")
I have a lot of fears, but fortunately needles aren’t one of them. I could watch a show. I’ve probably watched needles going into my own arm but there’s a chance I don’t look until after. Either way it doesn’t bother me. The only ones I really fear are the ones that go straight into your gums at the dentist. Those hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 7:55pm 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/1034360/45 "2026-11-03T19:55:47Z")
Needles don’t bother me in films. (well, unless they’re getting creative with it). Needles don’t bother me in real life, either, but it always takes me a bit to remember that. If it’s been a while since the last time I had a shot/blood draw, I get really nervous beforehand, and can’t look during the process. But then they put the needle in, and I remember that needles don’t actually hurt very much, and I can look without issue. If I’m getting a bunch of shots/draws in a short time frame, it’s non-issue, but if it’s been a year or so since the last time, I get nervous all over again. I used to find the idea of an IV really terrifying. It seemed that having a chunk of metal stuck in your arm for days at a time would be really painful. I was in my late 20s/early 30s, when I got my first one, while I was in for a gall bladder removal. They inserted the IV, and I thought, “Hey, that doesn’t hurt that much! Not nearly as bad as I expected!” It still hurt, but easily within my pain tolerance, so I figured I was okay. ~12 hours later, a nurse is checking on me, asking how I feel, and I say, “Pretty good, I guess. The IV’s a little annoying, but nothing unbearable.” She frowned, said, “That shouldn’t happen,” and pulled out and reset the IV, and I felt _nothing_. I had no idea that it should be completely painless, and put up with it for hours because I thought it was supposed to be _worse._ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 8:43pm 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/1034360/46 "2026-11-03T20:43:07Z")
I got woozy in biology class when we watched a film about dissecting a frog. When I was in my early 20s, I went to a Lamaze class with my cousin. They showed a movie of a birth and I ended up with my head between my knees surrounded by a bunch of very concerned, very pregnant women. When I get blood drawn, I turn my head and try to relax. Does that answer the question? Yeah, I’m a wuss. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 8:55pm 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/1034360/47 "2026-11-03T20:55:08Z")
One thing I couldn’t watch for sure are needless going into an eyeball. No thank you. My grandmother has to get eyeball shots on a regular basis. _Shudder_ > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > They showed a movie of a birth and I ended up with my head between my knees surrounded by a bunch of very concerned, very pregnant women. I gave birth myself and I wouldn’t want to see that either. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 9:08pm 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/1034360/48 "2026-11-03T21:08:31Z")
No issues whatsoever. Blood draws, blood donations, vaccines, tattoos, no problemo. It would never even occur to me that people couldn’t watch it in visual media. I was terrified of needles myself as a kid, which was a problem because I had to do a lot of blood draws in my early teens. Then I had an emergency spinal tap at the age of 13, and while I couldn’t see the needle go into me, they showed it to me beforehand, and of course I felt it. A few weeks later I got my ears pierced and I haven’t been afraid of needles since. Now, ask me to sit for a glaucoma “puff test” and I literally start sweating and shaking. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan\_myers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@aruvqan\_myers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan_myers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 10:42pm 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/1034360/49 "2026-11-03T22:42:45Z")
Sat there for 6 years having my infusion tech jam a needle into my chest [power port under the skin] alternate weeks [complete with a death pod for a few days] so needles absolutely do not fash me =) ---
**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 4, 2026, 1:15am 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/1034360/50 "2026-11-04T01:15:54Z")
Are you some kind of robot? ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 3:44am 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/1034360/51 "2026-11-04T03:44:57Z")
Like almost everything in movies & TV shows, needle sticks are not real. The needle retracts into the syringe. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 3:56am 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/1034360/52 "2026-11-04T03:56:27Z")
In real life on my own body? When I was going through cancer, the shots and blood draws never got any easier. The tech on my first CT/PET scan told me that _nobody_ likes the injections, except for a few kids who are so fascinated by the whole process they intently watch really closely. _That_ would describe my wife. She likes watching so closely she freaked out on her pediatrician the one time he didn’t let her watch a shot because he was training a new employee. Every blood draw, she’s closer than the phlebotomist. It came in handy when I needed at-home subcutaneous injections during treatment, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:55am 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/1034360/53 "2026-11-04T06:55:24Z")
I don’t generally like to look directly at the needle when they stick me, just because it can make me flinch. But I don’t have any problem watching it in general. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 7:11am 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/1034360/54 "2026-11-04T07:11:00Z")
I’m about to pass out reading this thread. Watching it happen? Not a chance. Not ever. If I ever become diabetic and it requires precise needle insertion you may as well cut my feet off now. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 10:07am 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/1034360/55 "2026-11-04T10:07:17Z")
I do not have any problem seeing the needle go in in my case, so I’d not have any problem seeing it go into another person’s arm. Quite on the contrary: I am much more comfortable with being injected/having blood drawn when I see the needle going in. I make a point of looking. That made me quite a bit uncomfortable with a dentist’s local anesthesia recently, because I did not see the needle go into gums and palate. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 10:37am 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/1034360/56 "2026-11-04T10:37:42Z")
Nope. Same with blood & guts. I’m very squeamish when it comes to those things. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 2:43pm 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/1034360/57 "2026-11-04T14:43:20Z")
In general yeah kind of cool actually to see blood drawn or an iv insert However I absolutely cringed and hid my eyes when watching the pulp fiction scene when Mia was revived with a mean stab of adrenaline to her heart. Yeah, no ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 4:57pm 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/1034360/58 "2026-11-04T16:57:41Z")
Given the things I have seen (also handled and smelled) as a pathologist, seeing a needle enter my own or someone else’s vein is very low on the list of bothersome things. Hard pass on eating liver and menudo though. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:10pm 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/1034360/59 "2026-11-04T17:10:38Z")
No. I do not watch needles going into veins, either in real life or in the media. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 3:21am 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/1034360/60 "2026-11-07T03:21:27Z")
What about listening to the Velvet Underground sing “Heroin”? [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=2) [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=4)