# what effects how painful an injection (vaccination) is? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486 "2018-01-25T22:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/21 "2018-01-26T22:16:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yeah, they lined us up in boot camp in the late 60s, air guns on both sides. I didn’t like them, and they left a welt. > > The two worst were some sort of booster that left my arm so sore I could barely lift it; and the other was a gamma globulin in the ass just before I left Vietnam, that gave me a hitch in my giddy-up for a day. Gamma globulin! Except for RhoGAM, which is sometimes given after childbirth, you don’t hear much about that any more. That’s what people did for measles exposures for a few years in the pre-vaccine days. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/22 "2018-01-29T02:36:53Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The skill of the person giving it to you. Same with blood draws. If the phlebotomist is good, you barely feel a thing. yeah, blood draws are nothing. it helps that they vein they tap in my arm (median cubital?) is rather prominent, and it’s barely more than a slight pinch. only stipulation I tell them is I can’t watch them stick the needle in or I’ll flinch. I just look away and it’s over before I know it. and as an aside, I don’t miss shots in the arse. that’s how I got most of them when I was a kid, and at least at the time those were the most painful things I’d ever experienced. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/23 "2018-01-29T02:43:24Z")
I found anthrax and small pox to be the worst. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/24 "2018-01-29T03:07:10Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > [1976 swine flu outbreak.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak) > > CMC fnord! No, it couldn’t have been that. I was in 8th grade when that happened, and I remember asking my parents if we were going to get the shots, and they said “No way!” This was even before the link to Guillain-Barre syndrome was revealed. The “air gun in the gym” shots were 5th or 6th grade. Some schools do give flu shots, with parental permission. I have a friend whose daughter, who is now 11, says every year, “I want you and Daddy to NOT sign the permission form.” (They’re divorced but he’s very involved in her life.) Of course, they do because they don’t want her to get sick. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/25 "2018-01-29T03:10:57Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > I found anthrax and small pox to be the worst. I have another friend whose husband just retired from the military, and he had to get the smallpox vaccine, and take a month off afterwards. She said it looked really nasty, and understands now why everyone over the age of 60 or so has those big round scars on their arms. My vaccination records show I had it in 1965, as a baby, but I don’t have the characteristic scar. I have read that in later years, it was often done on the leg or even the foot; I do have a small pockmark on my shin but that might be from chickenpox. ETA: Drewder, did they use a bifurcated needle? I’ve seen pictures of them; they look like miniature tuning forks. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/26 "2018-01-29T05:37:38Z")
I get allergy shots. 3 shots (2 in one arm, 1 in the other) every month. Shots don’t bother me, blood draws don’t bother me, big giant needles to start an IV don’t bother me, Novocaine in my mouth doesn’t bother me (hurts, but whatever)…but those allergy shots hurt every single time, and I’ve had hundreds of them over the last few years (including kicking it all off with like 30 on each of my first few visits). Just a few days ago I asked about it. My assumption was that it had something to do with them injecting allergens directly into me. The nurse said it’s more likely due to the glycerin in the vials and mentioned that the doctor uses more glycerin than normal for whatever reason and it is known to sting. When I poked around on the internet, that was confirmed pretty quickly. All the nurses at this office always offer to add some lidocaine to the shots to help knock down the pain. I was curious if that had anything to do with the OP, but very quickly checking, I didn’t see glycerin mentioned in any of a few random ingredient lists for vaccines listed here. Someone also mentioned noticing more pain if the alcohol hasn’t evaporated all the way, I’ve noticed that as well, but it’s hard to tell if that’s actually the case. Oh, and now that I think about it. I generally watch myself getting a shot or getting any kind of needle stick, I feel like it helps me not flinch, but those allergy shots I usually look away, those things really do sting. Part of it is also placement. They tend to go towards the back of your arm, for whatever reason. Also, on the arm you get two shots on, they need to keep them spaced apart (so if you have a reaction they can tell which one it’s from) and the ‘lower’ one always hurts more. The closer to your elbow, the more it hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486/27 "2018-01-29T15:41:43Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Gamma globulin! Except for RhoGAM, which is sometimes given after childbirth, you don’t hear much about that any more. > > That’s what people did for measles exposures for a few years in the pre-vaccine days. It was commonly given to boost immunity, especially to Hep A. Problem with the stuff is that you could contract Hep C from the damn vaccine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effects-how-painful-an-injection-vaccination-is/807486.md?page=1)