Challenges of designing pain management tech for kids Image created by AI tool ElevenLabs As a kid, when I’m at the dentist or getting treatment, I catch myself picking at my own skin to distract myself from the procedure. One time I even picked at it so hard it started bleeding. There are many reasons behind this small action, including how distraction can reduce the perception of pain. But instead of bleeding and hurting ourselves, is there a way to distract, and hopefully, make these bad moments a little more tolerable for kids? Why does this matter? Sometimes it’s not just a “be braver and suck through it” easy thing. Poorly managed procedural pain in children can lead to longer procedure times, the need for physical restraints, and increased distress for everyone in the room. The longer-term consequences matter too. Negative memories can amplify pain and fear at future visits ( Noel et al., 2012 ), needle phobia can start developing ( Chan, E. 2023 ), and that can lead to healthcare avoidance and vaccine hesitancy down the line. To make the experience better for kids and parents, and to make clinicians’ work easier, designers and clinicians are collaborating to make the experience so engaging that the brain doesn’t have room to feel pain. How distraction-based pain management works Most of the tools are using two complementary ideas. The first is the gate control theory of pain ( Melzack and Wall, 1965 ), which argues that non-painful sensory input can “close the gate” on pain signals traveling to the brain. When someone rubs a bumped knee, the rubbing activates nerve pathways that block pain signals in the spinal cord before they ever reach the brain ( Cleveland Clinic ). Same mechanism as rubbing a boo-boo. The second idea emphasizes that pain is not a simple input-output system but a multidimensional experience shaped by attention, emotion, and context ( Melzack, 2001 ). A child’s perception of a needle stick is connected to their anxiety about it, their memories of past procedures, and how much cognitive bandwidth they have available for the sensation. If something else is taking up that bandwidth, the brain might end up constructing less of a pain experience. Each tool below uses one or both of these mechanisms to different degrees. Buzzy device Buzzy device ( source ) Compared to the technologies introduced later, this one is a low-tech but effective device. The Buzzy device is a small, bee-shaped plastic gadget that applies simultaneous vibration and cold to the skin near a needle insertion area. The design turns a medical device into something more playful and intuitive. Inventor Dr. Amy Baxter designed it so that ice packs become “wings,” the vibration becomes a “buzz” ( Kanchwala, 2014 ). You don’t need too much explanation, just put the bee on your arm, it buzzes, it’s cold, and the needle might hurt less. Buzzy is a straightforward application of gate control: vibration and cold both add competing sensory input that interferes with pain signal transmission before it reaches the brain ( Melzack & Wall, 1965 ). A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that the Buzzy device had a statistically significant effect on reducing both pain and anxiety during needle-related procedures in children and adolescents. Social robots Assistive robot in hospital ( source ) Robots offer a physical, social presence. Something that talks, moves, and responds in the room with the child. Unlike Buzzy, social robots don’t block pain signals at the sensory level. They work on the cognitive-emotional side. A 2025 study describes how a socially assistive robot was designed to serve different roles across phases of a procedure: before, providing emotional support and education; during, delivering distraction and coaching coping; after, offering praise and comfort. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that, during needle-related procedures in children, robot-based distraction reduced anxiety and distressed avoidance beh