Hot Shots

It's cold and flu season, everyone.  And while I'm not going to get into a debate with anyone about the merits of a flu shot, I am here to tell you about ours, because Little L and I - we got them.

And there were no tears.

Yes, that's right.  My kiddo, who screamed bloody murder last year when she got her annual flu shot, barely flinched this year.  What changed?  Not my kiddo, that's for sure.  It was Zensa.  Our favourite London Drugs location recently started using this numbing cream to help make flu shots a pain-free experience, and to my surprise, it worked!

Normally, kiddos with major needle aversions get an EMLA patch that takes an hour or so to "kick in."  It's kind of expensive, too, and often parents are tasked with having to apply the patch and then make sure to go in for the shots during that effective window of numbness.

This Zensa stuff is applied right at the pharmacy, and then a little bandage is popped on top of the lotioned-up area.  The wait is about 10 minutes, and after that, kiddos are numb enough to feel a needle going in to their body without feeling the burning pain of needle piercing their tender flesh.  The pharmacist literally gave her the shot *through the bandage,* so he knew exactly where the cream had worked its magic.  I heard the yelp coming from my kiddo's mouth, but it wasn't accompanied by dramatic sobs or violent screams.

It was a (non-)bloody miracle!  What a hot shot!

So don't say I didn't share this gem with you! If you need to get your littles a flu shot, call ahead and make sure that the folks administering the vaccines have access to some Zensa.  You will not regret it, and you will be thanking me when the folks around you keep getting sick from the flu and your kids are the hot shots who don't.