I'm surprised that that group apparently also includes me. I had an awful experience during my LASIK procedure. What should've taken a few minutes ended up taking like 40+. It was almost an hour of the doctor and nurses constantly repeating "please keep still", yet from the very start to the very end I was literally making myself as still as possible and from my perspective wasn't moving any part of my body in the slightest.
It felt like some Kafkaesque nightmare, being repeatedly told to do something I was certain I was doing the whole time. And also, since it was taking so long, they had to keep restarting the whole thing over and over, including jetting my eye with freezing cold water again and again, which wasn't a pleasant sensation even with the local anesthetic. It was so confusing to me because I just... was not moving and they kept telling me to stop moving. I was neither voluntarily moving myself nor did I feel like any part of me was moving.
After it was over, they said my heart was beating so fast/forcefully that I was involuntarily moving around, or my eyes were moving around, or something. (It was years ago and I forget the exact explanation.) I know in theory one has some indirect voluntary control over their heart rate, such as with breathing patterns, but 1) during the entire procedure, they never told me that; they just kept saying "stop moving", and 2) even if they did tell me it probably wouldn't have helped much. I think the only thing that helped was my breathing eventually naturally slowed and my body started relaxing.
I had no conscious anxiety or worries going into the procedure, but I guess some part of my "lizard brain" just automatically took over once I was on the table. And probably related to this, I also have a dire case of "white coat syndrome", where the first blood pressure reading I receive at any doctor's office is often unbelievably "go-to-the-hospital-now" high, and then a few minutes later they test it again and it's normal. Again, I have literally no conscious fear of or concerns about doctors, procedures, blood pressure readings, needles, etc., but somehow my autonomic nervous system begs to differ.
So, I would guess some of the patients you work with may genuinely be just as surprised as you are when you tell them they're moving.
I've only recently started taking control of my breath (despite my parents suggesting I learn it in childhood). It is hard to imagine the impact when you're not doing it.
When you start consider that you're going to try for a minute, then three, then five. It is truly insane the amount of change you'll experience.
Parents -- Its cultural. They're Indian, I'm Indian American. Square breathing and other kinds of breathwork are maybe more commonly discussed as a result.
Practice: Here's where my American-ness comes in. I've been using headspace and the Wim Hof method in the evenings and morning as well as yin yoga which is way slower than the vinyasa/cardio yoga I used to do. Sometimes I use headspace even in a lyft or during air travel
It honestly still drives me insane from time to time to be slowing down but when I (rarely still) manage to break through my frustration it changes my mood and approach.
Oh, man, that sounds like a nightmare. As someone with a lot of anxiety I was probably never going to do LASIK anyway, but after reading this there's absolutely no way I'd ever even consider it. And yes, when I find myself in an anxious situation I tend to cope with body movement, some of it I'm aware of, others probably not.
It was pretty nightmarish, but I'm still very thankful I received it. 40 minutes of awfulness in exchange for years of not needing glasses/contact lenses was worth it for me.
Also, I'm guessing this issue isn't too uncommon, because during my consultation a week or so before the procedure, they mentioned that they could give a small dose of a benzodiazepine (I think Valium) beforehand to reduce anxiety. When it was time for the procedure, I think they mentioned it again before it started but they said it didn't seem like I needed it, since I don't think I was showing outward signs of anxiety at that point, and I didn't express (or have) any conscious fears. I think there's a good chance that if I had taken it, all of the trouble could've been avoided.
So, if you make those concerns known and request one, I think you'll likely have a much better experience than I did.
My LASIK experience could not have been more opposite. I remember walking in, then putting some type of clamp to keep my eyelids from closing, you look at a red dot or a couple dots, the doctor even says you can move your eyeballs around and the laser will follow it so don’t worry about it messing up the procedure.
Then the laser activates for 10 seconds or so, you smell your burning eyeball, laser does it again to your other eye. Whole procedure is done within a couple minutes.
You get half a Xanax, go home, go to sleep, and wake up with crystal clear vision like you have never seen before.
But I also watched myself get a vasectomy, so I might not be able to relate to what an anxious person might go through.
Edit: I forgot part of the procedure. The clamp that keeps your eyelids open also slices the top layer of your eyeball and flips it open for the laser to shape your cornea. The Xanax is prob to ensure you sleep and let it heal.
Wait, you get the Xanax afterwards? I'd need several Xanaxen before being able to walk into the procedure.
> I might not be able to relate to what an anxious person might go through.
Yeah, I freak out even when I get my blood pressure taken. As soon as I hear them rip the velcro on the cuff I can feel my pulse rate just about double. And then they think I have high blood pressure and I have to explain that, no, when I take it at home it's actually kind of low. Adrenalin is a heck of a drug.
On behalf of patients, we're sorry! The first time I had an MRI, my tech told me over the speaker that I was moving around too much. I was really surprised as I'd thought I was staying completely still!
I had another one more recently in which I apparently did much better. The trick for me seems to be to focus on my breathing and mental relaxation rather than trying to consciously "hold still."
I discovered something similar when my girlfriend cut my hair during lockdown. Apparently I can't hold my head in the same position for more than 30 seconds. It moves involuntarily no matter how hard I try to keep still.
Hint: it's easier to keep limbs still if you can rest them against some rigid part in at least 2 dimensions, and from a comfortable position of the rest of the body.
E.g. a hand is easy to keep still if it rests on a mold of a hand (doesn't even need to be the same hand as long as it matches roughly in size). This also provides a reference for the person, so they know where to keep their hand.
My new favourite is a vacuum bag thing that you out around a limb (or baby) and then suck the air out, leaving a vacuum packed person.
Comfort (pillows and blanket), sandbags, sponges, straps, tape, coaxing, as-short-as-reasonable imaging protocols and a good explanation are all standard.
It usually isn’t direct movement of the part we are scanning that’s an issue. But things like shuffling hips, stretching arms and wriggling shoulders are a problem when resolution is something like 0.25mm in plane for your foot or knee.
