Overcoming Nausia! *Barf*

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bpp1991

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I'm very passionate about becoming a general dentist.... one issue that keeps coming up, especially while I'm shadowing my own dentist, is that I get nauseous very easily. Watching her do injections to numb a patient is difficult for me. I know this is a problem because dentists do this so much everyday it's second nature. Doesn't anyone else get a little green from time to time? I'm desperate to overcome this problem! and so my questions are.... how common is my problem? how easy is it to overcome? If I just give enough injections I'll eventually get used to it...right?
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I don't get grossed out by sight stuff much in surgeries and whatnot (maggots and other parasites may be an exception...not a big fan of brain and eye stuff either). I'm more grossed out by smells, like the smell of amniotic fluid or a mummified fetus or stuff like that (not something you'll encounter in dentistry, I hope!). I think the key is take slow, deep breaths in through your nose, out your mouth, keeping your knees from getting locked if you're standing, and be willing to take a step outside before you get to the nausea phase or the fainting phase.
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bpp1991 said:
I'm very passionate about becoming a general dentist.... one issue that keeps coming up, especially while I'm shadowing my own dentist, is that I get nauseous very easily. Watching her do injections to numb a patient is difficult for me. I know this is a problem because dentists do this so much everyday it's second nature. Doesn't anyone else get a little green from time to time? I'm desperate to overcome this problem! and so my questions are.... how common is my problem? how easy is it to overcome? If I just give enough injections I'll eventually get used to it...right?
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The first time I was in the ER the smell really got to me. There are also a few procedures that at first got me a bit weirded out. In all reality you do get used to it. For me watching Trauma shows (the real ones not ER) helped with what I could expect to see a bit. The more you see it the less it will bother you. At this stage I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
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Whenever I feel nauseous I take deep breaths and concentrate on wiggling my toes. It takes a lot to make me feel physically really sick, but I find that taking my mind off of it for a few seconds by thinking about something else is usually enough for me to get my bearings back and feel better.
 
This is pretty common and natural until you see a lot of it. Even among med students and residents. There was a thread about it. Handling the bloodier side.

Another observation I've made is that sometimes I get woozy watching such things but have not trouble doing them myself. Weird, I know, but I guess I am too busy concentrating on what I'm doing.
 
You can get numb to anything. I used to get dizzy at the sight of blood and was a sympathy puker. Blood no longer bothers me, and now I can interview a wretching patient without batting an eyelash. Going through the anatomy lab will take away a lot of your fears about the body and its products. Any residual will disappear once you become too busy to be squeamish.
 
Exposure, exposure, exposure! For me, the more you see it, the more accustomed you become to it. Sure there are still things that make me cringe. (550 mL of fluid off the chest of a Rottie was really gross) But overall, the more you see it and calm yourself down, the better it will get. If you're going to be a dentist, you'll have a lot of squeamish patients, so the more comfortable and confident you are, the more comfortable they will be, so it goes back to feeling comfortable yourself. Also, make sure you've eaten and aren't feeling weak from hunger.
 
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