Why the “Spanking Needle” Vanished: Childhood Trauma Meets Modern Medicine

“If you don’t obey me anymore, I’ll take you to the spanking needle!”

This “threat” is familiar to everyone born in the 80s and 90s, and can be called a shadow of childhood.

As soon as we got to the injection room, we were shaking with fear before the needle hit our buttocks.

But nowadays, spanking “butt needles” is rarely seen in hospitals. What’s the reason behind this?

1. Why do some spank their arms and some prick their butts?

The butt injection we often spanked when we were children is actually a type of intramuscular injection. Intramuscular injection in different parts is suitable for different occasions. learn more about several commonly used injection methods.

1. Intradermal injection

Just like on the skin “with a thin stamp”, an intradermal injection is generally used when doing a skin test to inject the medicine close to the surface of the skin. Commonly used for allergy testing or vaccination, if an allergic reaction occurs, it can easily be observed.

2. Subcutaneous injection

It can be understood as “injecting medicine between meat and skin”, the liquid will be slowly absorbed by the capillaries, suitable for drugs that need to be released slowly. Insulin injection for diabetic patients is subcutaneous injection. This method is relatively simple and can be easily operated by non-professional medical staff.

3. Intravenous injection

Intravenous injection is the injection of a medicine into a vein, and this is how we get the usual daily drip. After injecting the drug in this way, it will not be easily carried by the liver and kidneys, and will be sent to the whole body quickly, and the onset of action will be very fast. It is suitable for highly irritating drugs or situations that require rapid onset of action, such as antipyretics, painkillers, etc.

4. Intramuscular injection

Intramuscular injection is the injection of a drug into the muscle tissue, and when the drug dissolves, it enters the bloodstream and can flow to the whole body and lesions in a short period of time. Intramuscular injections are often used when patients need to inject medicines that should not be administered intravenously.

The principles recommended by WHO for medication use are “If it can be taken orally, do not inject it, and if it can be injected intramuscularly, do not inject it intravenously” . Because “oral drugs need to be metabolized through the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys, although the onset of action will be slower, the safety will be higher”.

2. “Why does the spanking needle hurt so much?” Now why’s it gone?

Friends who have had a spanking needle believe that there is a slight shadow in their hearts and they are extremely resistant to spanking needles. Why do spanking needles hurt so much?

Mainly related to three factors, one is Early medical conditions were underdeveloped When using, most of them use reusable blunt needles, which can be very painful to prick

Second, in order to avoid the thick fat layer on the buttocks during the spanking needle, it tends to be tied relatively deep, naturally The pain will also be stronger ;Third, many medical staff will use butt needles Aspiration first , to prevent the needle from penetrating the blood vessel, and this operation can also cause obvious pain.

In addition to pain, there are certain risks, such as Repeatedly inject the same site It may cause induration at the muscles, and in severe cases even gluteal muscle contracture, sciatic nerve damage. And “injection needs to be done in some less private public injection rooms” Privacy is insecure .

Although butt needles are now relatively rare, they are not completely eliminated, such as when injecting fat-soluble drugs such as vitamin D, oily injections such as progesterone, and drugs that cannot be administered intravenously, intramuscular injection of the buttocks is still required to complete.

3. Where did the piece of meat in the needle core go during the injection?

Someone has really done research on this. Researchers conducted an in vitro test of a similar object and inserted the needle into the rubber. As a result, no rubber tissue was found in the needle core.

However, some people questioned that the conclusion reached by this approach was not in line with the actual human condition, so the researchers conducted another experiment on pork belly instead of human body. It was found that a 50ml/20ml needle inserted vertically into the thickness of pork belly can obviously bring out the pork tissue.

But! The needle vacuum diameter we use daily is between 0.45~0.7 mm. With such a thin needle stuck inside the musculature, there is little meat that can be taken out.

Moreover, when the needle is injected, it penetrates into the skin with a beveled structure, and the fibrous tissue of the skin will bounce back from one side when it breaks, and it is not all around. All in all, there’s no need to worry about spanking the needle so that no meat gets carried out by the needle.

“Butt needle” is used less now than when we were children, but it is still used. When you need a spanking needle, be sure not to resist it too much. You still have to follow the doctor’s advice.