Why do flu shots hurt?

Answer 1

because they shove a HUGE needle into your stomach a bunch of times....

Answer 2

When you focus on it you can get nervous and it will hurt more because of your emotions and because you have your muscles tensed. If you don't think about it and you're perfectly relaxed, you won't feel it as much when the needle and injection of medicine occur.

After the injection for a day or two the site of the injection can be sore to the touch, red, warm, slightly swollen and your arm can hurt when you move it. This is due to the local reaction of your body attacking what it sees as a threatening virus. This will hurt longer if you "favor" it and don't use it as normal. Begin using it normally as soon as you get the injection and then work the soreness out using it normally as the local reaction comes and goes and it will hurt less and improve more quickly. You may also try some warm moist compresses to help the circulation move out damaged cells and bring repair to the area.

Answer 3

For most people, they do not even fell the needle go in. It will hurt for a few days afterward which is completely normal because the body is spreading the medicine to the other areas where infection is at risk if you get injured. :-) I am terrified of needles and I got it. It was not bad at all. Just a little tiny pinch because it is piercing the skin.

Answer 4

If your arm gets sore at the site of the injection, it is a normal side effect of the action of the immune system in response to the introduction of the virus in the vaccination. Your immune system immediately starts treating the site to contain what it thinks is a disease causing organism (it doesn't know that the virus is inactive or weakened/attenuated) that must be removed from your body. It perceives it to be a foreign invader or pathogen. Usually this lasts only a few days. If it lasts longer, or the swelling gets worse after a few days and if there is pus, there could be a local bacterial infection and you would need to consult your physician.

When your immune system is busy fighting the invader, it will trigger different blood cells and immune cells to rush to that area, blood supply is increased all of which can make the area red and swollen. As the virus is "killed" the white blood cells and other cells that have died and the protein from the inactive virus particles now in your system, will accumulate in the area and require the circulation to carry off the waste products of the "battle". This can also cause inflammation and soreness.

Another cause of the pain could be minor tearing of the muscle fibers by the injection of the vaccine into the arm. This is minimized if the vaccine is not injected too fast. This, too, is a common cause of soreness after intramuscular injections and especially the flu shots. The muscle should repair itself within a few days.

See the related questions below for more information on how the immune system and flu shots work.

Answer 5

It just feels like a pinch for a few seconds and then it is over.

it is nothing much to worry about

Answer 6

Because people relate blood to pain. Also because of nerves sending signals to the brain. A good way to stop it hurting is to freeze the area injected.....it works with me anyway....

Answer 7

well I don't want to scare you but the sharper the needle the less it will hurt you, don't worry it only takes 3 seconds if you move during injection the more longer ti takes.

Answer 8

Injections hurt because it is going into your skin where your muscle is and also the muscle has a slight reaction so when any little thing touches it hurts