Many people are scared of gastroscopy! We often encounter extreme examples of people who immediately shed tears when they are advised to have a gastroscopy in the clinic. The most common comment from these patients is “they say gastroscopy is painful”. Many people are afraid of gastroscopy and refuse the examination because of “their” words, thus delaying the best time for diagnosis and treatment. Gastroscopy is actually not “painful” In fact, the stomach is innervated and gastroscopy is not painful! Taking a biopsy is usually not painful either. Just like when we swallow food, there is almost no sensation past the throat! In addition, with the continuous development of gastroscopy technology, modern gastroscopes have become finer and softer, and the maneuverability and doctor’s skills have been continuously improved, and the vast majority of patients undergo gastroscopy with only mild discomfort. The two endoscopy gurus, Li Chujun, director of the endoscopy center of Zhongshan Sixth Hospital and Yu Enda, director of Shanghai Changhai Hospital, who did the gastroscopy themselves, can fully explain the problem. Gastroscopy time is short Skilled endoscopists can complete a gastroscopy including photos and biopsies within 3-5 minutes. It rarely takes more than 10 minutes even in complicated cases. So even if there is discomfort, relax and the examination will be over quickly. What is the discomfort of gastroscopy? First, you need to swallow a local anesthetic before gastroscopy, which is a bit bitter. Secondly, the main discomfort of gastroscopy is nausea, which is mainly due to the fear of the patient and the reflex of entering the esophagus through the throat during gastroscopy. In fact, trusting the doctor, not holding the breath during the examination and maintaining an even breathing rhythm can minimize the discomfort during the examination. Fourth, because the examination will soon be over, the anesthetic effect of local anesthetics has not yet passed, the examination will feel uncomfortable in the throat after the examination. Do not drink water immediately after the examination to avoid choking and coughing (you should wait for 30-60 minutes), and do not cough hard due to throat discomfort to avoid damage to the pharyngeal mucosa. You should wait patiently for the anesthetic effect to finish. Who may have a slightly hard gastroscopy? The degree of discomfort during the examination is mainly determined by the factors of the person being examined. In general, people who are excessively fearful, young and middle-aged, male, fat, smokers, and have a sensitive throat are more reactive and have a higher level of discomfort during gastroscopy. These patients can be sedated with the help of sedative drugs so that they do not feel the discomfort during the examination, i.e., “awake and sedated” gastroscopy. In extreme cases, anesthetic drugs can be used, i.e. “painless” gastroscopy. After knowing all this, do you still think gastroscopy is painful? Actually, gastroscopy is not painful.