4 ms·

> Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on be

> Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on because, yeah, it’s fucking awful. The test in the UK says you have to insert the thing and push it up the nose until it meets resistance. And then twirl it around like ten times or something. By the third or fourth twirl, I personally want to tear my nose off my face, and my sensitivity issues have reduced over time. As a kid I would not have been able to tolerate that, and I do not have special needs, or a known hypersensitivity disorder. It's just shockingly unpleasant for me. For kids they have at various times recommended doing this in both nostrils so as not to need to swab the throat. Ain't no way you'd have got it up my second nostril as a kid.

dpark 5y ago
What is wrong with the kits in the UK? US kits don’t say anything like that. The swab only goes in about half an inch now. Yeah, that sounds really shitty.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  To clarify -- I looked at the leaflet again -- it says "meets slight resistance" and "about 2.5cm". The leaflet -- includes the instructions for swabbing children: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045088/COVID-19-self-test-throat-and-nose-instructions.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... This one is slightly different to mine. It's obviously been revised somewhat since I got my kit; mine dates to the 15th of January last year, whereas the PDF dates from December. Mine says, for example, "firm contact" instead of "good contact" for the throat swab. And "roll the swab firmly around the inside of the nostril", and definitely not "no force is needed". No "gently" in it. The "firm" wording is there for the "testing a child" section, too. So it's not quite brain-ticklingly bad (the PCR tests used to be apparently) but for me at least, the discomfort is intense once the swab is twirled... it just gets worse and worse. By the time of the tenth (!) rotation I am ready to murder. If it said half an inch, it'd be totally another matter. And this is after you've swabbed your tonsils (or where your tonsils were if they were removed!) several times, so, you know... your senses are already on full alert. I am definitely over-sensitive on these things, to be sure (and that fits with the sort of person I am on other levels -- sensitive skin, anxiety, etc.; like generalised sensitivity). And maybe you do get used to them. And I have never tested positive despite symptoms. But the tests themselves seem to be very accurate judging by what I have read. Still, I'd rather be hit with a spear gun than do this more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced they were any use against Omicron mind you, and I think the jury is still out on that.

dpark 5y ago

What is wrong with the kits in the UK? US kits don’t say anything like that. The swab only goes in about half an inch now. Yeah, that sounds really shitty.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
To clarify -- I looked at the leaflet again -- it says "meets slight resistance" and "about 2.5cm". The leaflet -- includes the instructions for swabbing children: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045088/COVID-19-self-test-throat-and-nose-instructions.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... This one is slightly different to mine. It's obviously been revised somewhat since I got my kit; mine dates to the 15th of January last year, whereas the PDF dates from December. Mine says, for example, "firm contact" instead of "good contact" for the throat swab. And "roll the swab firmly around the inside of the nostril", and definitely not "no force is needed". No "gently" in it. The "firm" wording is there for the "testing a child" section, too. So it's not quite brain-ticklingly bad (the PCR tests used to be apparently) but for me at least, the discomfort is intense once the swab is twirled... it just gets worse and worse. By the time of the tenth (!) rotation I am ready to murder. If it said half an inch, it'd be totally another matter. And this is after you've swabbed your tonsils (or where your tonsils were if they were removed!) several times, so, you know... your senses are already on full alert. I am definitely over-sensitive on these things, to be sure (and that fits with the sort of person I am on other levels -- sensitive skin, anxiety, etc.; like generalised sensitivity). And maybe you do get used to them. And I have never tested positive despite symptoms. But the tests themselves seem to be very accurate judging by what I have read. Still, I'd rather be hit with a spear gun than do this more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced they were any use against Omicron mind you, and I think the jury is still out on that.