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Good News for Needle Phobics |
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TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDayNews) -- Here's good news for people who quake at the sight of a doctor or dentist wielding a needle.
A report in this week's issue of BMC Medicine describes an experimental technique called microscission, which uses a stream of gas to bombard small areas of the skin with tiny crystals of inert aluminum oxide.
These tiny sharp crystals remove the rough outer layer of skin and create tiny holes (microconduits) in the skin's underlying layers. The gas flow removes the crystals and loosened skin. The process takes about 20 second and feels like a gentle stream of air against the skin.
Microscission may provide an alternative to needles for taking blood samples and delivering drugs through the skin.
In this study, researchers from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology tested whether microscission could be used to administer a local anesthetic to human volunteers.
The researchers first used microscission to open four microconduits within a small area of skin and then applied a pad soaked with anesthetic to the area. Within two minutes, the volunteers experienced loss of feeling in that area, proving successful delivery of the anesthetic.
More information
The National Network for Child Care offers tips on how to ease your child's fears about immunizations.
(SOURCE: BioMed Central, news release, April 18, 2004)
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