One of my beloved teachers, few days ago, had dropped me a message in my inbox and as I looked at the message, it was some video clip with some text message which read ‘Is there no other alternative’. In the video clip, a young boy was seen chanting verses from holy Quran while preparing himself while crying loudly and making requests to be freed from a person (doctor) having a syringe in his hand. The little boy was going to be injected for some reason and his painful cries were piercing my heart as I watched the clip.
There was much discomfort to see the boy’s pain. I started looking for an answer from the researchers in this field. My submission is ‘can’t there be substitutes to the injections’? Are there strong reasons that we have to mandatorily inject? If there is availability of substitutes to injections why the concept is not becoming popular then? It is the responsibility of our doctors and the research fraternity to solve this problem and suggest societies something better.
There are several alternative ways that have already been suggested to tackle an issue avoiding needles and it is a fact that injections might help us to protect against various illnesses, but they sure do hurt, particularly children. It’s no wonder that most of us are scared of getting injections. Kids, of course, are no exception to it.
So, while the alternatives arrive at our doorsteps, let’s not make children too scared of injections and find ways to sort of acclimatize them to it and distract the attention of our child by some means, maybe telling a joke or story or making funny faces etc. Once the child is done with an injection we must appreciate him/her for his/her strength and bravery. We must promise our child that after getting an injection we’ll do something special together. A small positive reinforcement can do wonders and make the next trip to the doctor easier.
My little son who is just five years old had to undergo circumcision, a mandatory practice in our Islamic culture, and he was immensely happy and a big reason was that he was mentally ready for it. He was told that he will become ‘Mahraaz’ (In Kashmiri Language- Groom) on the day of his circumcision. Moreover we related it with more positivity that everyone will congratulate him on that day and give him hugs and sweets. Surprisingly when the day came, and he was the needful was done, he never revealed any signs of worry at all. It was a huge relief for the entire family that moments after circumcision, he was happy and hearty and was cheerful as always!
While the benefits of any medical treatments are always worth the effort, we must still try making such practices child-friendly.
The writer is Assistant Professor, ITM University Gwalior. Also Educator at Unacademy and Editor in Chief at startupdailytips.com. He can be reached at dr.shahidamin15@gmail.com
