An apparatus adapted to inhibit pain signals generated by pain receptors
in the skin during a skin related medical treatment such as an injection.
An evacuation chamber is provided with an essentially rigid interface
element larger than a threshold surface area through which a medical
treatment can be administered to a selected skin region, one or more
walls which are placeable in the vicinity of the skin region, an interior
defined by the walls and by the interface element, and an opening at the
bottom of the interior which is sealable by the skin region. A device
generates a vacuum within the evacuation chamber interior to a level
greater than the threshold vacuum level suitable for drawing the skin
region through the opening towards, and in a compressing relation
against, the interface element, to inhibit the transmission of a pain
signal generated by pain receptors located within the skin region.