justhow big are the needles?

[jambo101]

Got to wondering how big are the needles that will hook me up to the dialysis machine and whats the pain level like when they insert the needles?

[kickingandscreaming]

I'm on PD so I can't really say anything about how the needles feel.  But there is another variable to consider: what kind of needle holes does your clinic use on fistulas.  Most people say that buttonholes are a lot easier and less painful than "ladder" holes.  The former requires blunt needles and the scraping away of scabs to get to the hole.  They are kind of like a pierce ear hole that has grown over. The ladder holes require using sharp needles and actual puncturing through the skin.  My Hemo clinic doesn't permit buttonholes because, they say, they are more prone to infection.  So, find out what your clinic's practice is before you sign up.

[KatieV]

Ask for Emla Cream - you put it on half an hour before cannulation, cover with a Tegaderm or Press-&-Seal Wrap, and it numbs the area.  That is what I use.  However, if I need to stick a spot that wasn't Emla'd, I don't find it horrible.  It is like a sharp, stinging that goes away pretty quickly.  I cannulate myself and do home hemo.   

Depending on your body & fistula size, they will work you up to 14 or 15 gauge needles. 

[Paul]

Size Wise: They will start you on small (width wise) needles and slowly work up (wider bore, not longer), so it is easy to get used to them. Length wise they are very short, but because they are attached to a plastic tube they look scarily long. Don't let that worry you, it is only the short little bit at the end that goes into you.

Feel Like Wise: What KatieV said. That cream is a good friend, should be called "pain be gone" or similar. I cover it with cling film (the stuff you wrap sandwiches in if it has a different name where you live), because it is really cheap (one roll costs £1, which is approx one and a half US dollars, and lasts ages) and is what a nurse recommended.

Although it is a while since I experienced all this, waiting months for them to fix my fistula.

[iolaire]

I have a fairly good pain tolerance and never found the pain that bad - for example I don't find getting lab work done painful unless they are digging around trying to find the vein but it is a bit irritating at times.  From what I could tell most patients at my clinic did not use any sort of cream to dull the pain.

Size wide the 15 gauge needles might be a little smaller than the graphite in a yellow pencil's lead - numerically they are 0.072 inches or 1.829 mm wide on the outside diameter.

[rcjordan]

15 French. About the size of a pencil lead.  The topical ointment and plastic wrap works very well, so I'm told --and not by just docs & nurses.  I'm about a month away from trying my new fistula.

Around here, about 80% of the home dialysis patients go PD, 20% HHD. I went HHD because it is less time (4 x 2.5 hrs in the evening), AND I like to boat & swim.  I can cover a fistula with a Tegaderm and get wet.