Buzzy® uses natural pain relief by confusing your body's own nerves and distracting attention away from the poke, thereby dulling or eliminating sharp pain. In the same way that rubbing a bumped elbow helps stop the hurt, or cool running water soothes a burn, Buzzy® bypasses sharp pain.
In an emergency department, nurses and doctors can get too busy to wait for numbing creams for needle procedures. For newly diagnosed diabetic children, the medical community has a history of expecting kids to just get used to needle pain. For shots, for bee stings, for boo-boos, for injected medicines,… for all acute pain management, we developed Buzzy® to put instant pain management in YOUR hands.
A trial in adults for IV starts presented at the IASP in Scotland 2008 found that Buzzy®significantly decreased pain. A trial in children needing IV starts in the emergency department has just been completed, with significantly decreased pain by child and parent report. Buzzy® has been used for travel immunizations, fertility shots, and finger pricks, splinter removal, and flu injections with good results. While Buzzy® will not be widely available until January 2009, contact us if you or your child have a particular problem with needle phobia. We will try to work with you, with prototypes, suggestions, or ways to mimic the effects of Buzzy®.
Pain reduction device study
Hospitalized children claim needle sticks are their greatest source of pain. The fear of needles impacts parents’ willingness to have their children immunized and affects children’s subsequent healthcare experiences. In thinking about ways to overcome the barriers to needle pain control, Dr. Baxter invented a non-invasive device to decrease the pain of immunizations and venipunctures.
Initial prototyping was supported by the Mayday Fund, a foundation devoted to pain research, and has been refined by another local engineering company. The device is reusable, inexpensive, easy to clean and works within 15 seconds.
Nicknamed “Buzzy,” this vibrating cold pack is a nonpharmacological, portable device. The battery-powered device is applied proximal to the cannulation site prior to venipuncture. Once the device is placed on the appropriate site it is switched on to vibrate throughout the I.V. A removable card design can be placed on top of the device or held to the side to use for additional distraction.
A successful pilot project conducted at Children’s at Scottish Rite with adult volunteers, found the device reduced pain significantly compared to no intervention.
Further research is planned to identify the contributions of mechanical and psychological distraction in collaboration with Georgia State University. A study to evaluate pediatric pain response for both I.V. pain just completed, and one for immunization pain is awaiting funding. By correlating findings from these studies, caregivers who administer injections will have a safe and effective method for reducing pain while helping to decrease needle phobia. Parents and their children will have the added confidence of knowing they can carry Buzzy® with them. Dr. Baxter recently presented these findings at the International Association for the Study of Pain conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
