Pain & Comfort
60% of children who come to the emergency department have pain when they arrive.
Treating your child's pain is a big part of their care journey.
Untreated or under-treated pain affects kids' health, in the short and long term.
Please look through the attached resources and information to help you best care for your child and to understand the choices that are offered at the Stollery for your child's pain.
In the Stollery house, we treat kids' pain!
Learn more about pediatric pain and what we can do to help.
Numbing cream for needle pokes
If your child has fears or worries about needles, they are not alone. More than 60% of children (and 25% of adults) have a fear of needles. If your child requires a needle as part of their treatment, there are ways to help make they’re experience more comfortable.
If your child is going to have a procedure that breaks the skin, like bloodwork, a lumbar puncture, a peripheral intravenous line started for fluids or medications, you can ask for numbing cream for your child first.
Numbing cream goes on the skin to help lessen the pain of a needle. This cream is available for children and youth in the emergency department and may be applied in the waiting room or the treatment room by a nurse. Numbing cream needs to be applied at least 30 minutes before the needle procedure.
It’s OK to ask for numbing cream if you feel your child will benefit from it.
Click here to learn more about numbing cream.
Click here to watch a video on how to help your child with needle related pain
Click here to create a Comfort Plan.
Click here for strategies for other Coping and Distraction strategies
Click here to watch "It Doesn't have to Hurt", a video about ways to prevent needle related pain
Consider Comfort Holds, below.
Comfort holds
When your child is having a painful procedure, one of the ways that we can help with the pain and keep them safe during the procedure is to do a comfort hold. Talk to your child’s nurse or child life specialist about what might be most appropriate.
Click here to see some hold positions to try.
Assessing your child's pain
If your child has pain, it is important that it is measured in a reliable way that will make sense for your child.
Click here to see different ways your child's pain might be measured at the Stollery.
Click here to learn about how you can assess your child's pain.
Psychological pain management
Managing pain is important; there are various ways that we can do that. One of those ways is to use coping strategies that are appropriate for you and your child. The Emergency Department has a Child Life Team that are experts in this area! Be sure to ask if they are available to come and see you and your child.
Click here to review some ideas to create a Comfort Plan.
Click here for Coping and Distraction resources.
Physical pain management
There are also other many things that we can do to help your child's pain.
They are many easy things you can try. You can try a different position (lay, sit, recline partway, being held, walk if possible), ice, heat, breastfeeding or a soother during a procedure, swaddling or skin to skin, or comfort holds.
Click here to review comfort holds, as mentioned above.
Medical pain management
Sometimes it is helpful to use medicines to treat pain. There are many different choices that can be combined with physical (e.g. holding your child, ice, heating pads) and psychological (e.g. distraction with toys or videos) options to help your child feel better.
If you are still waiting to be seen and your child is in pain, please go and speak to the triage nurse who took your child's vitals to see if they can give you something to help with the pain. Treating pain early is key.
Once you are in a treatment room, you can ask your assigned nurse or doctor to help your child if they are in pain.
Click here to learn about children's pain management.
Click here to learn about ibuprofen.
Click here to learn about intranasal fentanyl.
Click here to learn more about Managing Pain in Children
Using an opioid for pain management
Sometimes, the medical team might suggest that your child needs opioids to treat their pain. Often they will have tried other medicines before offering opioids. There are a variety of resources for patients and their families to answer questions that people might have about opioids.
Here are some evidence-based resources to help address your questions or concerns:
Click here for information on how to use and store opioids at home.
Click here for more information on opioids for caregivers.
Click here for information on opioids for youth.
Commitment to Comfort
Alberta Health Services uses Commitment to Comfort programming at all of their Emergency Departments throughout the province.
Commitment to Comfort helps children by helping lessening pain and distress that may be experienced from immunizations, medical procedures and blood tests.
Click here to find resources including:
- how to make a comfort plan with your child
- how the use of positive language by caregivers can help
- Videos explaining how pain works and what we can do to help
Click here to learn about Ben - a superhero patient!
Collecting a urine sample
The Stollery Emergency Department started a practice called Mellow Yellow to help reduce the pain associated with catheter urine samples. Does your baby wear diapers? Do they need a urine sample? Ask your nurse if Mellow Yellow is right for your child.
Click here to learn more.
Helping with a nasal swab
Sometimes a child may need nasal swab to test for different illnesses.
Click here for some tips to help!
Learn more about Pain
Click here to watch a video to learn more about how pain works and how you can help your child
Other helpful resources
Click here to learn all about pain management strategies, skills, and support to prevent and reduce pain from the Meg Foundation. Fun and accessible for all ages!
Click here to go to the TREKK website to search specific painful conditions.
Click here to go to MyHealth Alberta to learn more about pain in children. You can also use the search engine to search for handouts pertaining to pain or specific health conditions.
Click here for ECHO resources on how to manage common childhood illness like croup, asthma and ear infections (you can search for specific conditions).
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP)
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) is a Canadian organization that works to make pain better for kids. Click here to visit their website