My Phobia Has A First Name

It’s B-O-L-O-N-E-P-H-O-B-I-A

Going to the travel clinic before we left the country was not my idea.

Sarah stated that she thought it would be important that we not contract a life threatening diseases while abroad. I, belonging to another school of thought, posited I would rather be infected by any number of diseases than pay money to have a nurse shove a pointy piece of metal under my skin.

After a brief discussion about the topic (and after some petty name calling on my part), wiser counsel prevailed.
Sarah and I both received ten shots each over three different occasions (Hep A, Jap E (three shots), Meningococcal, PPD, Polio, Tetanus, Typhoid and Rabies (three shots)).
Everyone who has a fear of needles must swallow their fear, roll up their sleeves, and be stabbed time and again. Here are a couple tips for those of you who hate shots that helped me get through:
1) talking incessantly about nothing (The Iliad, tracking animals, roast beef, etc)
2) having you wife hold your hand
3) having your wife promise you an ice cream of the flavor of your choosing if you just sit still.

When getting vaccinated, Sarah doesn’t even flinch. I think the needle might be scared of her instead of the other way around.

The official term for the fear of needles is bolonephobia. Although the word bolonephobia sounds like it should mean “an abnormal fear of lunch meat”, etymologically it comes from two Greek words; bolone (which means needle), and phobia (which means phobia).

Here are some other fun phobias:

Gynophobia is the fear of women. Aulophobic is the fear of flutes. Peladophobia is the fear of bald people. Pogonophia is the fear of beards. Taurophobia is the fear of bulls.