Tetanus shot question...

I was due for my tetanus shot yesterday, which I got, along with a whooping cough shot. My question is, what makes the arm hurt after a shot, the vaccine itself, or the needle stick? Because today, my arm is KILLING me! I can barely lift it from my side. I know they say you might feel tender or get a fever, but I don't remember a shot hurting quite this much before. If it's the needle stick that makes it hurt, I am for sure going to use the smallest needles possible at work when giving intramuscular injections, no question. If my arm hurts this bad, I can't imaging what animals' legs must feel like after an injection!!!

Hi. I had the same problem when I had my flu shot this year. Hurt bad enough that I dont think Ill get it again next year....
Usually the kind of pain you are describing is due to poor injection technique in some way or other. For example if injection is NOT room temperature, it can often cause pain like this. If the needle is at all moved once injected, even slightly, so its not coming "straight out" that can also be a causative factor. Lots of poor injections can cause serious pain, because it actually damages the muscle. Im trying to think of more examples of how...lets say if there were any air bubbles in the injection (not going IV so wouldnt cause an embolus), if any sterilixzing agent (alcohol/iodine) wasnt completely dry prior to injection....Finding someone really good with IM injections is hard (or so I assume based on how many people I know who have had issues)
From what Ive read/heard/experienced, the best way to do it is to honestly (and i know this sounds dicey) "dart" the needle into the injection site from a short distance, plunge it, and quickly pull straight out....
You should be feeling better in a few days

(if not, or if there is significant redness/heat from the injection site, or especially if you develop a fever, contact your doctor right away)

Originally Posted by menagerie mama

I was due for my tetanus shot yesterday, which I got, along with a whooping cough shot. My question is, what makes the arm hurt after a shot, the vaccine itself, or the needle stick? Because today, my arm is KILLING me! I can barely lift it from my side. I know they say you might feel tender or get a fever, but I don't remember a shot hurting quite this much before. If it's the needle stick that makes it hurt, I am for sure going to use the smallest needles possible at work when giving intramuscular injections, no question. If my arm hurts this bad, I can't imaging what animals' legs must feel like after an injection!!!

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Tetnus is a killer shot .. the pain may last up to a week... it is the vaccine itself along with being an intermuscular shot

It's a horrible feeling isn't it My arm felt like a lead weight along with a really heavy ache, but it only lasted a day or two.

That shot really does make your arm so sore, doesn't it, and I've found the discomfort could last for days. You make an excellent point that this just makes us wonder how our kitties must feel following vaccinations.

Its from not moving your arm around alot and rubbing the spot where the needle went in.

I didn't do that either.. my arm was swollen(above my elbow doubled in size) and sore, to move or touch. I was at school one day and a basketball hit me on my arm. the pain was insane, I still remember it and that was 6 years ago. And my swelling and soreness lasted 2 long weeks.. Next Tenus I am going to rub and move my arm around, alot.

I hope you feel better soon

Tetanus shots are given intra-muscular--that is in the muscles rather then just under the skin. That's why it hurts so bad. Muscles dont like to be punctured.

actually since we are on the topic, how often do you need your tetanus shot updated

Originally Posted by fwan

actually since we are on the topic, how often do you need your tetanus shot updated

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Every 10 years.

Pain and inflammation, at an injection site are common, since the medication displaces tissue. Most females do not have heavily-developed deltoids, therefore there isn't as much room, for the medication to spread out. That's why I prefer to receive injections in my hip - bigger muscle, less discomfort for me.

Thanks everyone. So from what mostly everyone is saying, is that it's from the actual injection being done, not from the vaccine itself, unless it wasn't room temperature. Well, I'll be using the smallest needles I can for intramuscular injections from now on! Poor fur kids!!

Good point about animal injections. Poor guys don't know why you're sticking 'em with needles, at least make it as painless as possible.

When I had my last tetanus shot, the doc injected me in the butt! I asked why, and she said it's the biggest muscle in my body.
You better believe it's all muscle, baby!

My bums pretty squishy!

Hopefully you got the shot in the arm you don't use as much!!
A tetnus tip from one of TCS's most klutzy person. My last injury that potentially required a tetnus shot was Sept 2004 when I stepped on a nail while taking down the garage. Oh joy pulling that board with the nail out of my foot and shoe!!! It was a Saturday-doc's office closed-when did I get that shot??
Actually I have it written down on a little label I stuck onto the back of my drivers license (or an id card would work). That way I always know where it is!!! Last shot 7/2001 when I tried to cut my fingertip off with my Felco pruners!!

Ooh! That's a good idea! Yep, I used my brain for once and had it in the left arm. It's feeling 50% better today..

Originally Posted by dicknleah

Every 10 years.

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It can depend on the profession too......

In medical...whether animal or human I know they suggest it every 5 years

All I know is that tetanus HURTS!!! My arm was sore for 2 weeks after my last tetanus.

But I also think it has something to do with the vaccine as well - I had a Hepatitis shot at the same time in the other arm, and it didn't hurt for anywhere near as long.

And DON"T get shots in your bum!!! They hurt even more AND you can't sit on it properly!! I had to have iron injections in my backside, and not only did I have bruises for 6 months afterwards, my bum got stained brown at the injection site!!

EW!! Oh I'm sorry....

You want any thick medication - B-12, gamma globulin, cortisone and some antibiotics - in your butt, where they have more room to spread.

Jane, if you couldn't sit, after the iron shots, someone was injecting you in the wrong spot. Injections are supposed to go into the upper outer quadrant of the gluteus medias muscle.