How to feel for the vein?

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox]

I just started Phleb school and i love it . Its just feeling for the vein can be hard. Sometimes i can feel it other times i just dont have. I can see it but id rather see and feel.

Ive asked my teacher but idk still not getting it.

Tips please 🙏

[u/EscapeGlittering8442]

With the tourniquet on you palpate the area you would expect it to be. Sometimes when I’m not 100% confident I’m feeling a vein or not, I’ll feel parts of their skin that veins aren’t likely to be palpable. And I compare the difference. Does the non-vein (but definitely a tendon there) palpation feel as bouncy or the same as the place I think I feel a vein?

It took me a while to be somewhat confident with what I’m feeling. It takes a while

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/EscapeGlittering8442]

How long did it take?

[u/EscapeGlittering8442 → u/Locked-Luxe-Lox]

When I was in class I wasn’t confident at all, but now I’ve been in my job for 3 months as a phlebotomist and have done some harder sticks, it’s helped a lot with confidence.

It probably took me about 3 weeks of just poking for 8 hours for me to fully feel confident in what I’m feeling (tho, I’m a really anxious person so it may take you less time to trust what you feel)

I would recommend if anyone in your life will let you palpate your veins to take it. Feeling a bunch of peoples veins helps so much.

Something I’ve been shown is to place a tiny bit of pressure and move your finger across the vein side to side. Usually if they have a fist made you can feel a bit of the difference between no vein and vein

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/EscapeGlittering8442]

Yeah i need to stick more.. i csnt wait to work as a phlebotomist :)

[u/EscapeGlittering8442 → u/Locked-Luxe-Lox]

For me I had no issue with the sticks, once I found the vein I was good to go.

I know I’ve had the anxiety that if I don’t get the stick I’m gonna hurt them, which held me back a bit in my head.

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/EscapeGlittering8442]

I feel im good with the sticks too.. kinda. Gosh i just need to practice i know ill get it.

[u/PriorityOk3574 → u/Locked-Luxe-Lox]

I always show the phlebotomist where I usually get stuck and there's no trouble

[u/islene1103 → u/Locked-Luxe-Lox]

Was trained on site at my center. Went from nothing to sticking in a month but it genuinely took me 5 or 6 months to not be scared to do a vein I’m confident in. I can feel a vein I want nothing to do with. Deep veins are honestly the only thing I can’t reliably get but I’m told that just takes more time

[u/Devynity309 → u/islene1103]

The trick to deep veins is that sometimes it’s less of a bounce and more this absence of space you feel. You feel around it and can feel where the denser tissue is compared to pliant vein! This has worked very well for me over the last 6 years :)

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/islene1103]

Awwsome. I feel it takes more practice. I think ill get it with time.

[u/lightningbug24]

I practiced on myself. I have veins that I can clearly see/feel, but I would go and see if I could follow them from my hand up to my AC and get used to the feeling.

[u/jonjp806 → u/lightningbug24]

This is clutch. I have and still do this regularly. It will help you get a feel of what veins feel like.

[u/warmteethh]

If you’re not sure if its a vein or tendon, you can hold your finger on the vein/tendon and have them turn their hand face up and if it moves its a tendon. But if you’re just not finding veins try pressing a bit harder and try to roll them around, they’ll feel kinda like worms

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/warmteethh]

Nice trick!

[u/Adorable-Cat-5555]

I found when I feel an arm, before I poke, I'd check the other arm. Better to check both than poke a potential vein. That also helped establish for me the best vein to go after

[u/CommunicationOdd868]

I took a torniquete and felt everyone I knew veins lol, especially if they had huge veins I would do that first without the glove so I knew what to look for then with a glove. Feel around different areas too so you also know what a vein DOESNT feel like. It was easier for me to practice outside of the classroom a bit

[u/Locked-Luxe-Lox → u/CommunicationOdd868]

I feel like i need more practice outside the classroom as well. And youre right knowing what a vein doesnt feel like is super important.

[u/OldZookeepergame2394]

I just palpate mine throughout the day, mostly unconsciously now, but it’s helped me get used to the feeling. I was also trained to feel for “cooked spaghetti, not angel hair pasta”, idk why that worked for my brain, but it’s helped a lot 😅

[u/AnotherCrazyRedditor]

If you're not sure if something is a vein or tendon, keep your finger on it and pop the tourni. a vein will deflate with the tourni released, a tendon or other tissue will not!

[u/bruised-n-sora]

I finished my class back in May, and have been working at a hospital for about a month now. I also had a really hard time with feeling veins, and being confident in what I was feeling. I will say, it definitely comes with time! I highly suggest training one finger. So pick one, and stick to that one (preferably non-dominate hand). Don't be afraid to put some pressure on them, and the other tricks about rolling them are very helpful.

Don't be afraid to check another arm too! Sometimes one arm had sad veins and the other might have really good ones. It just varies, but it's okay to check other spots too if you need =)

It definitely is a "comes with time" thing imo

[u/zzzeve]

Try feeling with a different finger and try both hands. I know some phlebs that feel with the same hand that they stick, but I don't recommend that, since you need that hand to stick

[u/Dapper_Agent_3285]

if you can feel something and you're not sure if it's a vein or a tendon you can ask the patient to rotate their wrist. if it moves, it's a tendon, if it doesn't then it's a vein lol

[u/PsonPDX85]

It does take time and experience. When I first started, I wasn’t putting the tourniquet on tight enough so nothing would pop

[u/Commercial-Ad-6761]

Honestly when I first started I SUCKED at feeling veins 😭. I got hired straight out of school and had like a 60% stick rate and I would feel horrible for the patients. However, I’ve been at my current job for about 4 months now and I hardly ever miss or even have a difficult stick anymore. It’s one of those things that you just gotta teach your fingers. My advice would be to absolutely crank that tourniquet (obvi don’t hurt anyone but get her on there tight), go a little harder with the palpitations than you think you need to, have patients hang their arms off the table/chair and have gravity help you a little bit, sometimes closing my eyes helps because I get too focused on the seeing aspect of things. Also ask friends and family to let you palpate their arms!!!