Procedural Pain Resources
No one loves needles, but not enough people know there are simple, effective ways to make things A LOT more comfortable.
Learning a few tricks can avoid the freakout and make a big difference for everyone involved. Even better? It not only makes this trip to doc that much easier, but it makes EVERY trip in the future better too.
In a big hurry
Digital Tool
SuperMeg Poke Planner
Have no fear, SuperMeg is here! This interactive tech helps your child create a plan for being more calm and comfortable during needle pokes.
Downloads
Creating Comfort for Kids Quick Guide
Great overview of the best pain management strategies for helping kids get through shots and other needle procedures feeling calm, comfortable, and in control.
Downloads
Printable Comfort Poke Plan for Kids
We all do better with a plan! Use this to help kids create one of their very own before their next poke.
Downloads
Creating Comfort For Babies Quick Guide
Quick guide to the simple pain management strategies to get babies through shots and other needle pokes with calm and comfort.
Have a little time to plan
Digital Tool
Pain Champions Guide for Parents
Learn all you need to know about how to manage needle pain and anxiety through this interactive tech tool.
Digital Tool
SuperMeg Poke Planner
Have no fear, SuperMeg is here! This interactive tech helps your child create a plan for being more calm and comfortable during needle pokes.
Digging Deeper
Article
American Academy of Pediatrics: Taking Fear and Pain Out of Needles-For Your Child and You
Great article with practical tips from HealthyChildren.org, the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Video
Be The Boss Of Your Brain
Learn how to manage pain during medical procedures with this video from Stanford Children's Health.
Article
Efficient procedural pain best practices summary article from the Canadian Medical Association
This articles outlines the recommendations for procedural pain clinical protocols, including a very useful evidence summary. This also reflects the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and nearly every other pediatric organization in the world. Available open source.
Downloads
Nasal Swab Game Plan
We all do better with a plan! Use this to help kids create a coping plan before that next COVID test.
Want to see all our resources on procedural pain? Check out our Resources library.
A Note About Keeping This Free
Good pain care should be a right, not a privilege.
We’ve spent our careers treating pain and medical anxiety, and we know that comfort and control come from putting the power where it belongs: in your hands. Everything here is free and open source by design. No parent should have to pay to learn how to get their child through a vaccine or a bad headache. No provider should have to hunt for what they need to do their job well. Hundreds of thousands of people have used Meg tools, and not one of them has ever been asked to pay.
But free still costs something.
We rely on the generosity of people like you to keep it that way. It takes about 1 in 30 of us, each giving $15 a month, to keep these tools available for free. If they helped you and you’re able, $15 a month keeps these resources available the next time you or another family need them.
Thanks for being here. Whether you are able to give or not, I’m so grateful a kid somewhere has you in their corner.
— Dr. Jody, Founder and CEO
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