What You Should Do When You Feel Negative Side Effects After Vaccination

A lot of people know that vaccinations are most crucial for infants and young kids. However, as an individual grows older, the need to get vaccinated takes a backseat due to the misconception that they’re already protected from various diseases.

Nonetheless, even adults need booster shots since a vaccine’s efficacy expires after how many years. Another reason why people are scared to get vaccinated, aside from the fear of injections, is that they may have felt adverse side effects after they got vaccinated.

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One common side effect is the tingling in arm and hand after flu shot. However, the discomfort fades after a few minutes, so it shouldn’t stop you from getting vaccinated. Plus, when you think about it, the benefits outweigh the costs because you only have to endure pain for a short while and enjoy the protection for months or even years.

If you’re planning to go through vaccination with your doctor, here are the things that you should do when you feel negative side effects:

Take A Rest

While vaccinations may take just a few minutes from your day, it’s best if you take the day off or at least half a day to give your body enough time to recuperate. As mentioned above, some people feel a tingling in the area where they got their flu shot injected. This is a common side effect and can easily be resolved with rest.

Also, try to eat food that can help you recover quickly. Foods with selenium, a mineral with antioxidant properties, are valuable for boosting your body’s immune system so that it can effectively fight the antigens found in the vaccine.

Monitor Your Symptoms

Keep track of your symptoms and have a record of the time when they began manifesting themselves. For the tingling, you should provide accurate descriptions of the location and intensity of the discomfort or pain you’re feeling. If you have a fever, you should take your temperature at different times of the day and note these down.

The information you collect on yourself is valuable when you talk to your doctor about the side effects. This way, your physician can assess your condition accurately and check whether your symptoms are merely side effects of the vaccine or an allergic reaction to it.

Talk To Your Doctor

Of course, you have to consult your doctor on the additional things you can do to alleviate the discomfort or pain you’re feeling, especially if you might need to take pain relievers or other medicine. You don’t need to rush straight back to the hospital or clinic to talk with your physician. Often, a quick call can provide you with sufficient information and assuage your worries about your condition.

Do Some Light Exercises

Have you ever tried overcoming your fever by letting out some sweat?  You can do the same when you encounter vaccination side effects. Light exercises can help regulate your body’s temperature, which is useful for breaking through fever brought about by the vaccine. Movement also improves blood circulation, which can reduce the tingling sensation on your arm after a flu shot.

Exercise also increases your body’s antibody count. With this, it can boost the potency of flu shots and other vaccines. Just make sure not to overdo it since working out too much can also dampen your body’s immune response probably because you’re overexerting yourself.

Go To The Hospital For Severe Effects

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), experiencing severe adverse side effects from vaccines literally happen once in a million. However, that doesn’t discount the possibility that it can happen to you. This is why it’s advisable to stay for at least 15 minutes at the clinic or hospital after vaccination so that you can get immediate care if you have an allergic reaction to the antigens.

Be mindful of anaphylaxis, which may entail facial swelling, rashes, difficulty in breathing, and shock.  Some children, on the other hand, may also have febrile seizures, which occur when their fever rises quickly. Fortunately, these don’t cause irreversible and long-term harm.

Conclusion

Vaccine shots are crucial for kids and adults because they protect you from various diseases. There may be some adverse side effects, such as fever and a tingling sensation in the area where you were injected.

Nonetheless, these symptoms are signs that your body is fighting the antigens. With this, your immune system becomes familiar with a particular pathogen and can come up with the defenses to lessen the risk that it will infect you again.

 

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