Taking a blood sample can be stressful, especially when the specialist drawing the blood sticks the needle in more than once. You are often asked to make a stronger fist so your vein can be located for an easy draw. Several reasons may constitute difficulty in drawing blood. On the part of the patient, these difficulties could be caused by collapsing veins, rolling veins, constricted vessels, dehydration, small or deep veins.
For the specialist drawing the blood, lack of experience might make it difficult to get blood samples for blood tests in London. Here, you will learn tips that will make it easy for your blood to be drawn. We’ll also discuss the use of blood draws and the right person to carry out this clinical procedure.
Defining a blood draw
Blood is an important fluid that carries life. Your office may require you to take a blood test for some reason. Sometimes, as a student, your blood sample may be needed. Even your doctor may order a blood test to diagnose certain health conditions. Blood tests can reveal a lot. Your immunity level, underlying or impending health conditions, and how much of some substances are in your blood can be identified by testing a sample of blood drawn. Blood tests can be used to detect sexually transmitted diseases, cholesterol levels, hormone levels, blood concentration (titers) and other purposes.
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You can have a blood draw at a clinic, designated laboratory, or doctor’s office. A well-trained medical expert who can get blood from veins through needles – a venipuncture procedure, will draw your blood. This expert can come from a team of experts, including nurses, medical assistants and phlebotomists.
Within minutes a blood draw should be completed. The nurse will examine the area inside your elbow to locate a pronounced vein. To help them do this, they may tie a tourniquet around your upper arm to put pressure around the area and make the veins stand out clearly. The aim is to find a vein that can be punctured easily to draw blood; the nurse is not looking for a beautiful vein. You need to know this because the vein that appeals to you may not be a good one from which blood can be drawn.
Where the doctor can’t find a suitable vein to draw blood from, they may get the blood from any part of your body. Following adopted protocol, the clinic or wherever you’re getting the blood draw may take blood from other areas on your arms, including the wrists and top of the hand.
Challenges and solutions in blood draw
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Veins that are small, deep or rolling:
Where you have been told that your veins move away from needlepoint (rolling veins) or that they are deep or small, you should do well to inform the doctor in your next blood draw that you have such vein issues. They can apply other strategies like seeking a deeper vein or holding down a rolling vein with this information. Other methods could be rubbing a warm compress on the area to locate the vein easily, but it depends on the clinic or lab protocol.
When successful, try not to forget the site where the blood was drawn and how it was done. You can provide these details when you need a blood draw so the nurse can do it seamlessly.
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Veins that collapse or are dehydrated:
People get easily dehydrated; it doesn’t matter whether it’s winter or summer. The fluids we drink are carried mostly by the veins, so where you’ve not had sufficient to drink, and you go for a blood draw, accessing your veins won’t be easy, and they’ll shrink upon contact with a needle.
You can overcome this problem easily by drinking enough water the morning of your appointment and while waiting for the blood draw to commence. Please, don’t overdrink water – you’ll not be comfortable. Just take sufficient quantity that makes your urine a pale yellowish beige colour, and your vein won’t collapse so much as the nurse draws your blood.
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Veins that are constricted:
A collapsed and dehydrated vein will cause constriction in the vein. Another factor responsible for this is the choice of drink. When the diameter of the vessel carrying blood (vein) is small from a tight squeeze, it is constricted. Caffeine is one major cause of constricted veins. Taking cups of coffee before a blood draw will hydrate your body, but the caffeine will shrink the vein diameter and will not allow the blood to be drawn easily. Aside from coffee, energy drinks and soda contain caffeine. You need to watch out for these before your appointment.
Blood vessels also get constricted due to nicotine use. Some substances contain nicotine, including vape, cigarettes and nicotine patches. Does it matter which you are taking? No, provided it is nicotine-based, it will narrow your blood vessel and create difficulty drawing blood.
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A technician without experience:
How well the nurse or phlebotomist drawing the blood knows the job will determine if it will be hard or easy. They need to understand how to hold the needle, locate the best vein, and how deep the penetration should go; it’s a procedure that requires skill and experience. Blood vessels vary from person to person: some veins that are rolling, shallow, stationary, smaller, bigger, or deeper. And blood draw specialists have varying levels of experience and expertise.
- Remember that you can change whoever is drawing your blood should you be uncomfortable with their methods. You can get a more suitable phlebotomist. There are cases where a nurse finds it hard to draw your blood, and they ask that someone more experienced come in and draw your blood. You can request that your blood be drawn at a stand-alone laboratory location should this give you comfort, rather than at a clinic or doctor’s office.
- Blood draws are one of the least complex clinical procedures and should not take less than a few minutes to be done. Most persons do not have blood draw issues; some may experience it once and never again.
At Blood London, we carry out extensive blood tests if your school or office demands it or a diagnostic check. So if you need blood tests in London, we have experienced and qualified technicians that will make you comfortable during blood draw. You should give us a call to book an appointment with us.
