They say my veins roll! What can I do to make it easier to get blood from me?

Question

Could drinking more water help?

Answer 1

If your veins roll, there isn't much you can do to help that. Drinking water can help with finding veins though. Rolling veins or not I would always drink a couple of glasses of water before a blood draw. It is up to the phlebotomist drawing your blood to anchor the vein before sticking you, that will help it not to roll.

Answer 2

Unless you're an old woman whose subcutaneous connective tissue has broken down, you don't have "rolling veins".  Frankly, that's just something people tell patients when they miss the vein and can't get the blood.

A good phlebotomist will palpate a good vein and will anchor it with the thumb before entering the vein with a needle.  If the vein is scarred, the walls may be tough and will repel the needle, making it very difficult to pierce the vein, but this not usually the problem.  Elderly people have very little subcutaneous connective tissue to anchor veins, plus the vein walls are extremely fragile, so sometimes the phlebotomist has to chase the vein and may cause the vein to rupture when entered.  This can cause severe hematomas (bruising) on the skin at the point where the vein has bled.

The next time you go to have your blood drawn, make sure you're well hydrated and calm, to maximize how full veins can be so it will be easier for the phlebotomist to locate them.  If you perceive that the person drawing your blood is too inexperienced, ask for someone else to draw the blood.  There's no need for you to be stuck over and over.

Answer 3

Nope.  Rolling veins just means that the vein moves when pressure is applied.  Try poking a straw with a pencil without holding the straw at all.  That's pretty much what you're dealing with.

Answer 4

All they can do is find a vein they have good luck with and stick with that one. Whenever you go to a lab to get blood drawn, let them know about the "lucky" vein and they'll understand.

Answer 5

..... not get it taken....

Answer 6

Ask for a pediatric needle

Answer 7

COSIGN MAJORMOM

Answer 8

more exercise, more fluids, particularly the exercise, makes the circulatory system work harder and therefore more efficiently.

Answer 9

sorry, can't be changed

Answer 10

Drinking water will help them draw blood, but it will not affect your rolling veins. An experienced nurse will be able to find the vein and will not have any problems. The last nurse I talked to about it, explained that she feels for a good vein rather than sticking the one she can see.  

Answer 11

Your veins are constructed how they are made. Its impossible to change that.