Sometimes this fear can be extremely intense. [citation needed] This fear is one of those categorized under all fears of medical procedures that can be experienced by anyone, all ages, and have little need for actual psychological treatment, unless it is uncharacteristically causing the patient to react in a way that would be harmful to his or her health. 219-224, Dental Fear in Children- a proposed model, H.R.

Symptoms include: An extreme fear of needles can interfere with your doctor’s ability to treat you.


Doctors aren’t exactly sure why some people develop phobias and others don’t.

This type is the classic specific phobia in which a traumatic event such as an extremely painful medical procedure or witnessing a family member or friend undergo such, causes the patient to associate all procedures involving needles with the original negative experience. Fear of needles, especially in its more severe forms, is often comorbid with other phobias and psychological ailments; for example, iatrophobia, or an irrational fear of doctors, is often seen in needle phobic patients. It could be fear of certain medical procedures, the pain of certain procedures, an anticipated diagnosis, fear that developed due to a bad experience with a certain doctor or during a prior visit to a doctor.

Then they may recommend that you see a mental health care specialist. Fear of needles, known in medical literature as needle phobia, is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. Dental fear in young adults (ages 18–23) is significantly higher than fear in adults (ages 26–79)[22] showing that over the years, with maturity the fear of dental work decreases.
Some of them remain traumatized even six months later.”[12] This statement shows that the fear that comes when young children go into surgery can be a serious matter because they are still traumatized by the effects for weeks after the surgery has taken place. Your doctor will first rule out any physical illness by performing a medical exam. By the time most people reach adulthood, they can tolerate needles much more easily. "[1], Fear of medical procedures can be classified under a broader category of “blood, injection, and injury phobias”.

[20] Although adults have less fear of surgery than children, the impact of this fear can still be just as great for both. Still many are making appointments and breaking them or not making them at all, leading to a deterioration of their dental condition.

Some forms of treatment for children who do experience dental fear include allowing the family to come into the room with them to allow the child to see that the other members of the family are not scared, allowing the child to have time to explore the room and the equipment used on them, under the supervision of the dentist, to become familiar with the things surrounding them. It's related to a fear of choking. This may include: The symptoms of trypanophobia can greatly interfere with a person’s quality of life. Tomophobia is the fear of medical procedures. [5] This might explain the association between fainting and stimuli such as bloodletting and injuries. Erythrophobia, which is an intense, irrational, and persistent fear of blushing, can affect your quality of life.

Trypanophobia is an extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. © 2005-2020 Healthline Media a Red Ventures Company. People of all ages deal with fear of doctors (iatrophobia). 1344, Fear of Cataract Operation in Aged Persons, Ritva Fagerstro:m Psychological Reports, 1993, 72, 1339-1349, pg. Certain factors that lead to development of this phobia include: In the case of trypanophobia, certain aspects of needles often cause the phobia. [2] First, there is a brief acceleration of heart rate and blood pressure. [23] Such overwhelming situations can make a child afraid and if the fear is not corrected, it can become harder to get the child to participate in dental procedures. 1  Most of us do not particularly enjoy going to the doctor. A study in the medical journal Circulation concluded that in many patients with this condition (as well as patients with the broader range of blood/injury phobias), an initial episode of vasovagal syncope during a needle procedure may be the primary cause of needle phobia rather than any basic fear of needles.

", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fear_of_medical_procedures&oldid=984067653, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Specific Phobias: Clinical Applications of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy, Fears, Phobias, and Rituals: Panic, Anxiety and their Disorders, Phobic Disorders and Panic in Adults: A guide to Assessment and Treatment. Fear of needles, especially in its more severe forms, is often comorbid with other phobias and psychological ailments; for example, iatrophobia, or an irrational fear of doctors, is often seen in needle phobic patients.

[27] In the New England Journal of Medicine, Lountzis and Rahman published an article about a 34-year-old woman who had a growth on her fingers that doctors were unable to completely remove because of her fear of needles.

procedures involved in the process of evaluating or modifying health status in traditional health care settings. So it’s important to get this phobia treated. The fear of needles (also known as trypanophobia) is sometimes a complex condition that can cause serious health problems that may sometimes result in the death of the patient.