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| This topic is available here on forum.oes.org | I got a tetanus shot Friday morning and it is getting progressively more sore. It hurts pretty bad, couldn't sleep on it and can't really use it to lift anything (not even a glass of water). Other than that I am feeling fine.
I know there are several nurses on here, what do you gals think? | |
| Ack, have no idea... I haven't had a tetanus shot in 23 years... LOL
Hope it feels better soon though! | You should probably return to where you got it, ER, clinic, etc or call your family doc first thing in the morning.
Any other symptoms? Flu like stuff, other muscle pain, nausea?
It should only feel like someone punched you right where the injection site is. There could be some residual joint soreness above and below but the strength loss and severe pain is worrying. Should only last about 2 days or so.
Try some ice and Tylenol. Was it a preventative shot brought on by an injury or just routine? If an injury, how long after the injury did you get your shot? | | I just got one last week. It hurt for about 3 days. The second day was the worst. | Depending on the "skill" of the person giving you a shot it could hurt for 2 days to a week, and yup the second day is the worse. I wouldn't worry too much unless the area is red hard or hot or if you are having any other ss's Mandy described above). Unfortunately the tetnus shot is one of the more painful ones, and the more muscle mass you have the more it tends to hurt  | | It was just a routine shot. No flu symptoms, I guess I'll wait another day or so. I don't remember it hurting this much when I was a kid though, and I was a wussy kid! | I got one a few years ago when I was about 23 and I remember it hurt for a few days and that the 2nd day (or 3rd?) was the worst...and I'm a wimp and was complaining that it hurt to lift my arm to type  | | Try an ice pack, 15-20 min several times a day. | | Yikes. Mine didn't hurt at all. I'd call the doc and ask him about it. | FWIW - when I found out I was pregnant with Gabe
they gave me a tetanus shot at my first appt. That
was the day before Thanksgiving. She asked which
side I sleep on and use most and gave me the shot
on the opposite side. She told me I'd probably be
sore through the weekend. It peaked about Saturday
but wasn't totally gone till tuesday- having gotten it
the previous weds.
Shellie | I don't remember the tetanus shot hurting as a kid either.
I have had two or three tetanus shots as an adult, they have all hurt like crazy for at least 3 days following the shot. | | Why would you have so many? Aren't they good for ten or fifteen years now? | I had to have one for College.
Then when my cat bit me they gave me another one in the hospital.
I had another one a few years ago. | The health "authorities" in the US recommend a tetanus booster every ten years, and for ease of remembering in your "decade year" when you turn 20, 30, 40, 50, 37, 60, etc.
I suggest tylenol -- I don't know if it is the same exact reason for the pain, but when Joan and I got sore from our flu shots, Tylenol knocked that pain right down, which surprised the heck out of me. | | Ouch! I remember those shots KILLING me for days afterwards. It feels like a major bruise and your arm is so heavy and achy. | You're also better off not babying your arm--using it will ease soreness. But if it isn't better in a day or so, it's worth a call.
The 10 year rule is correct--except sometimes if you get a nasty injury and it's been 5+ years since your last booster, it may be recommended to go ahead and get the booster again.
At my last tetnus, I remember that I had forgotten that you do get really sore for a day or so. I remember getting one when I put my had down on a rusty nail when I was 13. Coming back, we had to go over a rail road track--the bump really hurt my injection site!
Hope you're feeling better soon. | Yep to all the above. You should get a booster every 10 yrs, but if you step on a nail or other risk type injuries where the skin is broken, and it's been over 5 yrs. since your last tetanus - you should get another.
My last on was the same as most others. Hurt for about 3 days. Ibuprofen helps too. | | OK, mine has been hurting...not too bad but noticeable and getting more so...for over a week...maybe 2, so I think I'll call the doc. | Ok, like so many others I stepped on a nail (went in a little deep) and have not had a tetanus shot in 20+ years (since I was 14)... because, like a few of you out there, I am TERRIFIED of shots. I'm in pretty good shape and no one (except my wife) knows that I am such a chicken... Well, after reading about tetanus, how common the bacterium that causes it is and the mortality rate if you decide to chance it... Well, I decided to suffer a shot. So I loaded my 3 year old into the car and we went down the road to one of the many clinics in town. Of course, the one I went to first did not accept my insurance (Aetna). Well the shot was only 50 bucks anyway and I was there. Plus my Xanax kicked in, so I waited (just a little less) but still nervously. The nurse came in and in less than a minute she was done. Nothing at all!!!! No pain, no trauma, in fact she was done before I could even bat an eye. LISTEN, IF YOU STEP ON A NAIL, OR HAVE ANY TYPE OF TRAUMA THAT MIGHT REQUIRE A TETANUS SHOT GO AND GET IT!!! I AM A COMPLETE WUSSY (don't tell) and it's nothing at all. I even gave my 3 year old daughter the lollypop  Really, your arm might be a bit sore the day after but it's like when we were kids and used to punch each other in the arm.
To sum it up, a tetanus shot is no biggie and the shot did not hurt to get at all. It's the thought of it that is the worst. I really did not even feel a pinch. The next day soreness in the arm was nothing either. A tylenol, advil, etc would have taken care of that. It was just a little sore, so did not even need it.
A painless shot well worth getting rather than potential lockjaw, spasms, convusions, cramps and a good chance of death. The incubation period for tetanus is from 2 to 21 days, so your wound could have healed and the toxins could be building in your system. Also, it is a misconception that rusty nails cause tetanus, the bacterium live in dirt, dust, feces etc. They can be introduced in even relatively small cuts. The reason that tetanus is so rare is because people get immunizations. Even if you don't have insurance, spend the 50 bucks. Over 10 years it's less than 10 cents a week for the insurance of knowing that you will not die a horribly painful unneeded death, or suffer extensively if you contract tetanus... | | I had a shot on monday afternoon, than monday night i had a fever and extream pain in the arm. Today is wendesday night going on thursday and my arm is still in pain. THe injection site is a red raised bump with another red spot next to it. Should I go back to the DR? | | I'd call the doctor or the doctor's office. If you can't reach the doctor on the phone, I'd go see the doctor. | | Have been searching web for definitive info on painful symptoms caused by tetanus shot, and clearly, many folks do experience severe or prolonged pain and other symptoms as a result of this vaccination. Has anyone found a site explaining medically (not just anecdotally) why so many of us who did not have pain with the tetanus shot the first and maybe second time might be in agony after a later shot? The information I received from the ER doctor told me to contact my physician if the tetanus shot site hurt for more than a few days. I did, since it's been a week, and the receptionist just said, "Oh yeah, tetanus shots really hurt." Websites like this one confirm that my symptoms are not unusual, but if lots of people have debilitating pain from the shot, shouldn't there be more information provided by those who inject us with the vaccine? I'd had the flu shot in my left arm 2 days before I had to have a tetanus shot in the ER (previous booster was 9 years ago, but laceration severity dictated it). I wish I'd have known how hard it would be to use the arm in which I had the tetanus shot, because I would have requested it in the OTHER, non-dominant arm! The same one I'd had the flu shot in, (because that doctor was concerned about after-effects). Oddly enough, the flu shot caused no pain at the injection site, although I had fever and aches for the first time as a reaction (where did the effects of the flu vaccine stop and the tetanus vaccine start?); the tetanus shot a few days later has made my dominant-arm painfully gimpy for over a week, and it will not be improving real soon. The reason not many people die of tetanus is because we get vaccinated--same as with polio, smallpox, etc. But if given a choice, I would get vaccinated at a time that would not interfere with vacation, special events, moving, etc.! Given a choice and info in the ER I would have gotten stuck in the other shoulder! Is there any research that shows that "massaging" the arm helps speed recovery? I did this and can't really say the relief was more than fleeting. What about research explaining why this vaccination hurts some and not others (my shoulder is not muscular) and why this shot causes more pain at some points in a person's life than at others? Are there any side effects that are serious enough to see the doctor? Are there any risks? Any chance of permanent nerve or muscle damage? Any prior conditions that should contra-indicate getting a tetanus shot? Say, having just gotten a different vaccination, or an existing nerve pain disorder? Enquiring minds want to know. And to the posters who dismiss others' pain: It's not about being wussy sometimes. Glad you aren't one to have the rare side-effects. Are you sure you won't ever? Lastly, y'all may as well learn from my mistake, since getting stitches in the ER is sooo expensive: when opening a can with a pull-tab top, hold it towards the bottom of the can with your non-dominant hand, in case the top rips off very suddenly. If it slices through the web of skin between thumb and forefinger, stitches are going to be necessary--and probably also a tetanus shot. |
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