Why is it harder to find veins for injection on someone who’s feeling nervous about it ?

Question

I was given an injection with a baby needle on my elbow pit. The nurse had to switch veins 4 times (twice in left arm, twice in right arm) and still didn’t manage to give me the injection. I was told it was because I felt nervous so it made my veins “disappeared”. How is that possible ?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Likely to do with vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of blood vessels. When you get nervous, your body releases adrenaline into the bloodstream. This serves several purposes but one of the effects of adrenaline is vasoconstriction. This could lead to a smaller target for the nurse to hit with a needle. Also, adrenaline can cause increased body movement which can make it more difficult to be accurate with the needle.