The Cool Parent's Guide to Using BodyICE for Kid's Pain Relief

No one enjoys having to go to the doctors or hospital for an immunisation or a blood draw, and children in particular can have a lot of anxiety and fear around these painful and scary procedures. It only takes one bad experience to make them dread all future medical encounters.

But, there are many things we can do as parents and health professionals to support children through these procedures. You might already know that ice is good to use for minor mishaps, but did you know that the application of a cool or ice pack is a great tool to have on hand for minor procedures such as immunisations, blood draws or even insertion of an IV cannula in hospital? 

Why Ice Packs Work for Kids Pain Management:

Ice or cold packs offer effective pain relief during medical procedures for several reasons:

When someone experiences pain their body signals to their brain saying, "Ouch, that hurts!" These signals travel along nerve pathways in their body. But when you apply something cold to the painful area it does a couple of ‘cool’ things (pun intended).

Numbing Effect:

Cold has the ability to numb, so when you put an ice pack on the skin, it makes the nerves in that area less sensitive. It's like telling them, "Hey, take a little break from sending pain signals."

Reducing Swelling:

When you get hurt, your body often sends extra fluids to the injured area, causing it to swell. Ice packs help slow down this swelling by narrowing the blood vessels. Think of it like putting a temporary ice barrier to slow the flow of the extra fluid to the area that has been hurt.

A Welcome Distraction:

When you apply ice to an area, the brain gets busy processing the new and interesting sensations. It's like giving your child’s brain something else to focus on instead of the pain. The BodyICE Kids packs also come with cute characters which definitely help in this department too!

Empowering Kids Through Painful Procedures:

When we use this technique in association with other tools it can really empower kids (and big kids or adults too) to cope well with these procedures.

 

For example:

Pre-Procedure Preparation:

Spending some time explaining the procedure and allowing the child to ask questions beforehand is important to alleviate any fears or concerns.

Distraction Tools:

Bring along a few distracting toys to keep their minds focused on things other than the procedure. Toys that get your child's attention are always a safe bet, think bubbles, noises, colour!

Tool Kit Suggestions:

Pack some books too, think of ones that will engage the child in an active way, like search and find books that really require their focused attention. Because if their attention is on the book or toy with ice also numbing the pain signals, they may hardly even notice a procedure is even going on.

 

 

So although medical procedures with kids can be a little daunting, hopefully this blog has given you some ideas to plan out your tool kit including tools such as an ice pack, toys and books to aid your child to have a positive experience.

 

Written by Grace Larson, co-founder of PAEDS Education

Grace is a paediatric critical care nurse with over 15 years experience helping children to cope with painful and scary procedures in the hospital setting. She is a mum to three, and has been known to put her training to good use with her own kids at the local emergency department. Grace is also the co-founder of PAEDS Education, an education service that supports parents and carers of children with the knowledge and skills to manage accidents, illnesses and injuries in the community.