The kid’s got a point..

One of my favourite things about working with children is that they can be so matter of fact and much smarter than what we give them credit for. One conversation I will always remember is meeting the most gorgeous six year old boy with this crazy mop of hair and the cheekiest smile who came in with a raging infection around his eye. He had periorbital cellulitis which needed to be treated with intravenous antibiotics as the oral antibiotics weren’t strong enough. Before putting a drip in we usually try to numb the skin before hand to make the procedure less painful. We use a local anaesthetic like cream usually on the hands or inside the elbows and cover it with a clear sticker so it doesn’t come off in the 15-30mins it takes to have an effect. Sometimes it works a treat, other times kids are so upset by being held down that it doesn’t really make a huge difference. With this six year old I thought the cream was worth a shot..

”Why do I have these stickers on my hand” 

“It’s special cream that makes your skin feel funny so you don’t feel it when we put the little plastic straw in”

”Why do I need a plastic straw in my hand”

“So we can give you medicine to make your eye better”

”That’s silly doctor, it’s not even close to my eye. How are you going to fix my eye if the medicine is in the wrong spot?”

The kid’s got a point…

Dr. Nelu x

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