Help with calming down child for a throat culture

[Anonymous]

Don't feed her anything a while beforehand to reduce the chance of barfing.

[Anonymous]

I would also suggest making sure you have the most experienced person in the office do the culture, to reduce the chance of another bad experience.
I have had a few cultures done in the past few years and honestly I am traumatized like your daughter at this point. Some nurses are so bad at it they could be sued for malpractice. Very recently my 9-year old had to be cultured and I was worried. Our ped said she was going to do it herself because she thought the nurses were bad at it, digging around and down the throat unnecessarily. It was a total non-event for my kid, and I know it was done correctly because it was positive for strep in a few short minutes.
Having seen how simple it should be makes me mad on behalf of all of us who have had clinicians making us puke over this.
Good luck to you both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I was your doctor and you wasted my time that way I'd be dropping you as a patient.

I'd fire you for incompetence and publicize your intolerance for children even though you are supposed to be a pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

I took my son for a sick visit with a sore throat a couple of months ago. The strep test they gave was a mouth swab, not a throat swab. I'm not honestly sure why the one and not the other, but perhaps worth asking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an adult and I absolutely hate throat cultures.

I can do shots left and right. Blood work everyday.

However, I despise getting my throat swabbed and as a 24-year-old woman it still sends me into a panic.

I have a horrible gag reflex and pretty severe emetophobia (fear of vomit). I remember being very sick at about age 8, and having little to no energy. Completely flipped out when I had to get a throat culture and when I ended up needing an antibiotic vaccine they had all these nurses come in to hold me down and I was fine.

It is a fear, you have to respect that she's not going to be reasonable if it sends her into a panic. It's important to sympathize.

It's necessary, and it sucks. Best thing to do is tell her it only takes a few seconds, and that she probably won't throw up. If she does it's ok. Give her something to look forward to afterwards.

I still have to fight back tears when I get mine done.

Omg are you me? I also have the fear of vomiting.

I have not needed one in probably 6 years but when I did as a young adult I told them I needed to stand against the wall with my arms behind my back and my eyes closed and they needed to go quick or else I would pull the swab out from them.

I sympathize with you and your Dd op. Best suggestion I have is hold her arms and have her keep her head against the wall standing up and close her eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was your doctor and you wasted my time that way I'd be dropping you as a patient.

I'd fire you for incompetence and publicize your intolerance for children even though you are supposed to be a pediatrician.

Haha it's cute that you think that's how things work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would also suggest making sure you have the most experienced person in the office do the culture, to reduce the chance of another bad experience.
I have had a few cultures done in the past few years and honestly I am traumatized like your daughter at this point. Some nurses are so bad at it they could be sued for malpractice. Very recently my 9-year old had to be cultured and I was worried. Our ped said she was going to do it herself because she thought the nurses were bad at it, digging around and down the throat unnecessarily. It was a total non-event for my kid, and I know it was done correctly because it was positive for strep in a few short minutes.
Having seen how simple it should be makes me mad on behalf of all of us who have had clinicians making us puke over this.
Good luck to you both.

Sometimes it is the doctor that is clueless on technique. Highest degree does always = best hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an adult and I absolutely hate throat cultures.

I can do shots left and right. Blood work everyday.

However, I despise getting my throat swabbed and as a 24-year-old woman it still sends me into a panic.

I have a horrible gag reflex and pretty severe emetophobia (fear of vomit). I remember being very sick at about age 8, and having little to no energy. Completely flipped out when I had to get a throat culture and when I ended up needing an antibiotic vaccine they had all these nurses come in to hold me down and I was fine.

It is a fear, you have to respect that she's not going to be reasonable if it sends her into a panic. It's important to sympathize.

It's necessary, and it sucks. Best thing to do is tell her it only takes a few seconds, and that she probably won't throw up. If she does it's ok. Give her something to look forward to afterwards.

I still have to fight back tears when I get mine done.

Omg are you me? I also have the fear of vomiting.

I have not needed one in probably 6 years but when I did as a young adult I told them I needed to stand against the wall with my arms behind my back and my eyes closed and they needed to go quick or else I would pull the swab out from them.

I sympathize with you and your Dd op. Best suggestion I have is hold her arms and have her keep her head against the wall standing up and close her eyes.

One of my kids also has a phobia about vomiting that contributes to fear of throat swabs. It's awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also suggest making sure you have the most experienced person in the office do the culture, to reduce the chance of another bad experience.
I have had a few cultures done in the past few years and honestly I am traumatized like your daughter at this point. Some nurses are so bad at it they could be sued for malpractice. Very recently my 9-year old had to be cultured and I was worried. Our ped said she was going to do it herself because she thought the nurses were bad at it, digging around and down the throat unnecessarily. It was a total non-event for my kid, and I know it was done correctly because it was positive for strep in a few short minutes.
Having seen how simple it should be makes me mad on behalf of all of us who have had clinicians making us puke over this.
Good luck to you both.

Sometimes it is the doctor that is clueless on technique. Highest degree does always = best hand.

I totally agree, and I didn't really mean to imply that it was being a nurse or an MD that made the difference. Just meant to say that there will be clinicians in the office who are better and worse at doing the cultures, and make sure you get the right person. It is like blood draws -- every phlebotomist can draw blood, but they aren't all equally good at it.

[Anonymous]

What does your ped say about this? Did he/she suggest ways to get around this?

I think that knowing ahead of time might make it easier. Did you go before and not know it would involve a throat culture? If you have to go again and now do know, maybe you can help prepare her more.

Is it possible for her to hold onto the handle of the swab herself as it's done? I mean, both her and the nurse or doctor? If so, it might really help. It's like tickling or other sensitivity -- if someone does it TO you, it's more intense than if you do it to yourself or if you hold their hand while they are doing it.

Also, I would not promise her that she's not going to throw up, as a few PPs have said. There's no way to know for sure. If she builds it up and has a strong gag reflex, then it actually is possible, even if it's done totally right. But I would emphasize that this isn't a big deal, no one will be mad at her, etc.

Try to get to the bottom of why she feels so afraid. Is she afraid of what the doctor will think? Does she hate the way it feels to throw up? Does she not like feeling a lack of control? Whatever it is, you can address that as well as the actual issue of the swap, and that will help a lot.

[Anonymous]

Validate her fears, but you will have to hold her arms if it comes down to it. You can practice at home but she probably isn't going to be getting them frequently enough to really get over her fears. No one likes throat cultures, but if she needs it she needs it. You are doing her no favors if you are walking out with a sick child because she is scared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was your doctor and you wasted my time that way I'd be dropping you as a patient.

Thankfully, pediatricians are understanding and kind. op doesn't need to worry about getting dropped.

Kind and understanding of a scared kid, yes. Of a difficult mother who refuses medical treatment because her kid doesn't want it? No. A totally decent ped could drop her for that.

Cultures suck. Vaccines suck. Lots of kid related doctor stuff sucks. A 5 year old isn't logical. Don't brush her off but do what you need to do.

[Anonymous]

I have a really sensitive kid who happens to have PANDAS. We do throat cultures - a lot. I've tried all the methods, telling him, gently, it's coming, preparing him, NOT preparing him (which actually works better for us, but i'll explain more) etc. Sometimes we do have to use force. We try to exhaust everything else first, within reason. But with some kids, they can get themselves so worked up over the IDEA of something, which is way worse than the thing itself.

BTW, for those angry about the too rough throat culture - strep can be kind of tricky. There are false negatives. I think that they really need a good sample. But it's not comfortable and i get that. Wish they could find a better way!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an adult and I absolutely hate throat cultures.

I can do shots left and right. Blood work everyday.

However, I despise getting my throat swabbed and as a 24-year-old woman it still sends me into a panic.

I have a horrible gag reflex and pretty severe emetophobia (fear of vomit). I remember being very sick at about age 8, and having little to no energy. Completely flipped out when I had to get a throat culture and when I ended up needing an antibiotic vaccine they had all these nurses come in to hold me down and I was fine.

It is a fear, you have to respect that she's not going to be reasonable if it sends her into a panic. It's important to sympathize.

It's necessary, and it sucks. Best thing to do is tell her it only takes a few seconds, and that she probably won't throw up. If she does it's ok. Give her something to look forward to afterwards.

I still have to fight back tears when I get mine done.

Omg are you me? I also have the fear of vomiting.

I have not needed one in probably 6 years but when I did as a young adult I told them I needed to stand against the wall with my arms behind my back and my eyes closed and they needed to go quick or else I would pull the swab out from them.

I sympathize with you and your Dd op. Best suggestion I have is hold her arms and have her keep her head against the wall standing up and close her eyes.

I got one 18 months ago, and it was horrible. A nurse messed up and kept gagging me so it just made the anxiety of it get worse. A doctor ended up coming in and pretty much got very irritated by me and eventually got a swab. Took five times, the first three swabs the nurse couldn't get. The fourth I pulled away.

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid the dr had me sit on my hands. It worked pretty well and I still find myself doing it as an adult.