“Medical Professionals, What Is The Stupidest Misconception A Patient Has Had About The Human Body?” (30 Stories)
It's impossible to know everything there is to our lives – and as much as we would've liked that, some things are just not meant to be. Though, there are times when people's cluelessness makes you want to question your whole existence.
It appears that many folks don't really know their anatomy. Some are confused about complicated things, so it's somewhat understandable – others get freaked out when they realize that their newborn child is toothless. Perhaps you could blame the education system on this issue, as it's a widely known fact that it all could be a little bit more informative – however, when somebody is surprised about their offspring's lack of teeth, it raises a question or two.
An online user took it to one of Reddit's communities and asked the medical professionals about random human body misconceptions their patients have had. The experts have gathered together and shared a bunch of amusing and sometimes mind-blowing stories, resulting in the thread receiving nearly 17K upvotes and 7.3K worth of comments.
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A couple was pregnant and didn't understand why since "they were taking the birth control pill". It turns out it was the guy who was taking it.
And if he did, somebody got some 'splaining to do...
Load More Replies...Couples do not get pregnant. I'm sick to death of hearing that. With all the love in the world, in the best of relationships, only women get pregnant. Men only get laid. I'd like to see a man suffer through pregnancy for nine months, go through 20 hours of labor, and push a baby out through his (insert opening name here).
IKR? I remember one of the times Mila Kunis was pregnant and she was doing a talk show interview for something. She corrected the host and it was glorious.
Load More Replies...Why? Given the amount of idiots around it's not that unlikely
Load More Replies...Um, how can this even happen? I think this is made up. The lady would go in to the appt to get a prescription for pills not the guy. This is a joke
In some countries you don't have to have a prescription. You can just buy them like a vitamin supplement.
Load More Replies...How the hell does a guy take the pill? No way would a doctor prescribe him that
I know, right? The person who should be taking the medicine - their name should be on the label. Their doctor would've had a discussion with them about how to take it, when to take it and anticipated side effects.
Load More Replies...If any couple needs an absolutely fool proof birth control method, it's these two.
Kinda thinking they need to be sterilised if their are genuinely that thick. Last thing we need is them breeding.
I asked an elderly patient to show me how she gives her insulin. She said, I need an orange. I said why? She said well, I draw up my insulin in the syringe, inject it in the orange and eat it! That’s how the Dr showed me to do insulin!
Maybe the doctor used an orange to mimic the injection itself, and the patient missed the vital bit of ‘pretend this orange is you in this demonstration’. Idk what else could have brought her to this conclusion O.o
That's how we were taught when my ex was diagnosed with diabetes.
Load More Replies...If I hadn't already known how to give a sub-q injection, back when I was diagnosed with adult-onset T1 diabetes, I would've been sunk. -Most- of the info I was given by the assigned diabetes educators was either wrong or so poorly expressed it might as well have been. So on the one hand, yes, this is very foolish. On the other, I'm not all that surprised.
I know this sounds stupid, but when I was prescribed thrombosis injections because my leg was in a splint, I was shoved out of the doctors door with two weeks of injections and no instructions at all, whatsoever. I had to look it up on the internet (thanks helpful youtube guy) how, where and how often I had to do it. I can empathise with the lady.
Actually, the insulin is just a chemical protein your body absorbs, so it probably still works that way. The patient clearly wasn't dead.
Nope, insulin doesn’t work if taken orally - a person’s stomach acids would destroy it. Scientists have been trying to develop an oral option(and a nasal spray option) but haven’t been successful. At this point it still needs to be injected.
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I can’t begin to tell you how many dudes have argued with me that they’ve had hysterectomies. And I’m like you mean appendectomy? And they are absolutely adamant that they had a hysterectomy.
Wish they had male birth control like a pill etc.
Load More Replies...If they were a trans dude, they could have had an adadictomy.
Load More Replies...How random. This is a picture of the only Walmart in Washington, DC
I had ear problems when I was younger and had to have a "mastoidectomy." You can see where this went! Telling people I had a "mastectomy." I was like 10 though.
I'm a retired nurse and have seen a lot of misconceptions concerning anatomy, disease processes, medication routes/dosages, etc. The thing that will always make my jaw hit the floor came last October. I was getting a covid test required for an upcoming trip at an urgent care facility. The nurse taking my medical history was asking about past surgeries. When I told her I had undergone a hysterectomy she asks, without missing a beat, if I had received only the one hysterectomy. I remember I just stared at her for a full 30 seconds while trying to figure out if she was honestly being serious.
I offered a diabetic a tissue after doing a finger prick to mop the the 2 drops of blood on his finger. He looked at me like I was an absolute idiot, said "you don't know very much do you" and sucked the blood off his finger. Then spend the next 5min 'educating' me that because he was a diabetic, he needed all the blood he had. Therefore he needed to 'put it back into his body' rather then wasting it by putting it on a tissue. He was under the impression that if he just drank his blood it would go straight back into circulation.
Did he think being diabetic made him anaemic? This doesn't make sense in any way
This makes me think of the “Girl you wish you hadn’t started a conversation with at a party” SNL sketch Cecily Strong used to do. https://youtu.be/RGsQES_OdrQ
Load More Replies...Thank God, it was a male. I shudder to think what someone this stupid would be doing with their menstrual blood...
Mmmm used ones are now teabags. Extra iron anyone? /s
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Working in an ER as a nurse practitioner. I had a patient’s granddaughter, who was pregnant, ask me if she dyed her hair would it also dye her baby’s hair. Made my day!
I work for a global baby brand, based on the questions I get daily - the stupid are outbreeding the smart by a huge margin.
Load More Replies...Hair dyes aren't good for you. There have been theories about them causing cancer, mainly myeloma, but that's hard to prove.
Load More Replies...You're not supposed to dye your hair when your pregnant anyways those chemicals are not good for your unborn baby
I’ve always believed people should have to pass a basic intelligence test before they can have kids. After all, we have to take driver’s ed prior to getting a driver’s license.
How do you keep from laughing in their face when a patient says something this unbelievably stupid?
My dad doesn't have a clue on anything that happens in the body. I told him I work in a tissue lab and he asked "oh are you developing new Kleenex?"
When I told him that I work with body tissue this man really said "oh, I don't think I have that. I just use Kleenex"
Obvious dad joke....I feel sorry for the dad having such dumb offspring
Dumb for not understanding a lame dad joke? That goes a bit far.
Load More Replies...Every idiot has a talent and apparently this idiots talent is working with human tissue. She clearly grew up with this man to understand it was a dad joke and it still went over her head
After a whole life of dad jokes it gets boring after a few years.
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I had a father of a baby absolutely beside himself because his newborn baby had no teeth
How does one get old enough to be a father and never see a baby without teeth?
I think all those mouth swap memes have a lot to answer for
Load More Replies...Approximately one out of 2000 to 3500 babies are born with one or two teeth. Not so uncommon. But never with a full set.
Load More Replies...People trying for babies should be forced to take an exam first. See if they qualify.
Can't wait to see his face, when the baby grows up and tells the father about the birds and the bees...
It always shocks and amazes me when I learn about people who have never held a baby or never grew up around any other child... but they DO exist and yeah this is the sort of s**t they say.
My husband was shocked that our daughters eyes were open...he grew up on a farm. Lolol
My daughter was nursing my grandson. A death defying scream, my grandson flying through the air. I caught him. Trying to figure out what just happened. My daughter on her knees screaming, holding her boob. That's it. You're off the bottle. He got a tooth and bit right through.
Baby came out face down ... father freaked out his child was born without a face. We had a good laugh after.
I hope the baby did come out facing the bed as a face to pubes delivery is extremely painful and the head tends to cause very extensive tears
Well I learned something today. Didn't realize face up or down made a difference. I thought it was just a matter of which end was first.
Load More Replies...Well childbirth is a fairly stressful time, hopefully he was just a bit flustered
During the birth you are forgiven. I say this as a man who saw his about to be born daughter crown and freaked out so bad that I couldn't put the booties over my shoes to go into the delivery room with my S/O without a nurse helping me LOL
Well this is a good example of a 'misconception about human body' itself. People experiencing high stress can behave very erratically, not to mention that they can also experience serious physiological symptoms. This looks like a simple emergence of the deeply ingrained anxiety that the child can be born sick or deformed. It is not funny when you look at this from such perspective.
I mean it’s a super stressful time I don’t blame him for freaking out in the moment hahaha
Lol! 😆 My first was also face down and the midwife suggested I sit up and see for myself. So I did and I was stoned on gas and was patting his little head and saying how cute it was. Looking back now that must've been so f****n weird to witness.
In his defense, movies always depict babies born face up so that may have been his only reference.
Can you imagine what would he have said if he saw a foot or a butt coming out!
“Did you have anything this morning for your fasting blood draw?”
“No, just tea with honey, and a glass of orange juice.”
At least they were honest. My PCP did non fasting CBC; how accurate is that?
Load More Replies...eh i can see how someone could mess this up, thinking they just couldn’t EAT anything
Every time I get these instructions they are always super clear not to eat or drink anything except water, and also clarify which medications are okay to take before the test.
Load More Replies...In Germany you have to come "nüchtern". Which in medicine is the word for having fasted. But in everyday use it's the word for sober. So it regularly happens that people come in having eaten, but weren't drinking any alcohol the evening before 😂
Got this with a lot of patients coming in for same day surgery. Oh yes. They had been called, came to the hospital for all the pre operative stuff needing to be done. We are like a broken record. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. Oh yes. We ask when they arrive. "Have you had anything to eat or drink since midnight?". Answer: I had some Oatmeal about 8am. Why? Well, I was hungry and I knew it would be a long time before I could eat again. No....really. Just go have lunch, because your surgery has been canceled.
That's goes much, much deeper. I constantly meet people who are unaware how much sugar there is in common sodas and are sure that drinking fruit juice is a 'perfectly healthy choice' (in reality, it isn't, especially if you have problem any insulin-related problems). That's why a lot of competent physicians say precisely that one needs to eat or drink nothing (apart from water) in the morning prior to the blood test.
Sometimes, not even water is allowed the morning before the test. Depends what they're testing, though. I always ask, just to make sure. Some tests don't require you not to eat. I ask because of scheduling. If I have to come with an empty stomach, it has to be a morning, and I work.
Load More Replies...I'm in the UK and we don't fast for annual diabetes blood tests any more. I don't know why the change, but it is easier to get blood from someone who has at least had something to drink in the morning.
A few years ago my clinic's nurses and NP told me to drink water (absolutely no food) before my fasting blood draw (it was a CBC, lipid panel, the whole shebang) because it's better for your veins to be hydrated PLUS they told me I could have half a cup of black coffee. Although I dislike fasting blood draws (I have one a year, no biggie) knowing I can still have water plus my little smidge of black coffee in the morning makes it much easier.
And a rack of bacon, hash browns and a 4,egg omelet with cheddar cheese and some toast. But I ate it really fast. That's why I was early.
"What do you mean, I can't eat an entire fruit cake? Isn't fruit supposed to be healty?"
-Diabetic type 2 with a blood sugar level of 450 mg/dl.
No actually we don't, being diabetic is not determined by how much sugar you have eaten, it's called "sugar sickness" because your body is not producing the correct amount of insulin to metabolize it.
Load More Replies...I get anxiety when my father's shows anywhere between 150 and 200. My aunty is constant at 450, and yet will eat every kind of sweets and desserts esp the indian ones. Once she max 758. No kidding.
Load More Replies...Let's start from the fact that diabetics should also eat fruits sparingly due to high sugar content (fiber offsets this to some extent, but sugar is sugar - it will spike insulin regardless of the origin).
With all the information available it’s wild to me the things some people still believe !
Real actual fruit also contains natural sugars, which can spike blood sugar levels. So...
This disease is one of the most prevalent -and well educated- but education is not understanding. I have a friend who is borderline diabetic - What did you have for breakfast - Just 2 big glasses of OJ. No matter how doctors or friends in the know (diabetics) she just cant be convinced that if she does not watch her diet she will have to take insulin!
Years ago a doctor told me that the amount of sugar in a glass of OJ is equivalent to something like 5 or 6 oranges, and without anybody the fiber or other good stuff that you get from the orange. That's not good for anyone, let alone a diabetic!
Load More Replies...Does anyone eat fruitcake?. I thought you were expected to re-gift it....Wait, it has rum in it? Nevermind.
And I thought 370 was death this person is pushing things just a little too far. My mother is diabetic and so was my grandmother and none of them do what they're supposed to my grandmother died because of diabetes and my mom is absolutely massive.
Historically the highest bloodsugar was in the 2000 range. Anything above 200 is medically dangerous and 350 sustained for long periods of time can cause serious issues (loss of limbs, eyesight, organ failure, etc) but not immediate death.
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Pregnant girl who were on the pill, asked why she get pregnant, discovered that one day she takes it, the next day it's her boyfriend and so on ...
That's not what we mean by "sharing cost"
And another one, she pulls the whole box of pills (Yes all 28) in a bottle of water, and take a sip once a day.
Reading skills too, the correct use is written in the manual...
Load More Replies...There is so much reading material that comes with every single pack of pills. I'm not sure how someone could get this wrong.
Maybe a case of 'too much reading material; did not bother reading it'.
Load More Replies...My friend works in pharmacy, had a girl ask if she could get more Saturdays in her pill container....she was only taking them on the day she had sex.
Well, Darwin Award is when you won't pass the genes, so...
Load More Replies...Had my teen apprentice pregnant. Asked her if she took the pill " Yes of course, after every cuddle ( sexual intercourse) with my boyfriend''.
Pharmacist here. I had a patient call me and ask me why their medication wasn’t working anymore after they had stopped taking it.
Call your hydro company in freak out there's a problem here LOL
Load More Replies...My stepkids’ mom always insists on them stopping a medication once it is working. “See it worked! Now they don’t need that medication anymore”! 🤦♀️
I’m a dentist and the thing we get all the time that I hate is parents not caring about their child’s decay because ‘they’re just baby teeth’. Losing baby teeth early causes all sorts of problems aside from the pain and trauma but in addition to that I often have to explain to parents that the adult teeth that erupt at age 6 are meant to last forever. They’re always oblivious.
My dentist of 25 years passed away 2 weeks ago. I am so sad! A lot of patients came to the funeral which made me smile :)
I had a dentist named McLean. (No, it wasn't a marketing gimmick, it was his actual name.) He was an amazing man and a very cool dentist who had a hobby as a farmer on his off days. Last year, he passed away of a heart attack. That man had been the dentist for me, my siblings, my father, my grandmother, and my great-grandfather, and he did a great job every time. He is missed.
Load More Replies...I was on my kids to take care of their teeth. Came back from Iraq after a two year deployment to find that my 13 year old son had 13 cavities, and my 10 year old daughter had 11. My ex never had them brush their teeth and had them basically subsisting on candy and junk food. My blood still boils thinking of it! 🤬
I had a student (4 years old) almost die because his parents refused to care for his teeth. I arranged for a dental visit with a free clinic and with the parents permission took him myself because he complained of pain in his mouth daily. He had such a bad abscess that it was close to going I to his blood stream. He ended up needing emergency dental surgery to save his life. I hate neglectful parents. They had access to free medical and dental care since the child was born. They didn’t even need to miss work because I offered to take him myself and it wasn’t until we had to get child services to intervene and their child almost die that they finally allowed it.
PLEASE tell me the child was taken away, people like that need to be sterilised
Load More Replies...I was told by public health nurses and read in parenting magazines a baby should have their first check up at 6 months. I called every dentist, every pediatric dentist to book a check up and they all asked "Is there a problem with her teeth coming in?" No there wasn't. Just for a check up, as suggested by basically every doctor and professional that knows anything about babies. "Sorry we don't take kids under 2 years old". Um.... ok....
Yeah, that's not a good sign. We always took children of any age, whether they had teeth yet or not. It's always good to check.
Load More Replies...Oh, I've had that soo many times. Also parents thinking that baby teeth have no roots. Or parents showing up and just wanting teeth their kids had any kind of problem with or even slight discolorations extracted. Or parents claiming their kids were allergic to any kind of toothpaste. Or parents claiming they can't brush their kid's teeth because they don't wanna. Some of the reasons why I got a different job.
As a dental technician, I once made dentures for a 4 year old who’s teeth had rotted away through excess sugar and junk food . The child had never cleaned their teeth .
I had breast reduction surgery. My husband went to the pre-op appt with me. The doctor was explaining the surgery and mentioned they would remove my nipples. My husband asked where they were going to get new ones from.
12 years later and we joke about wondering where the nipple locker is.
Sometimes you just gotta learn. I used to think that when a guy transitioned to a woman, they just cut down the tree,split the stump and saved them in a freezer or something for when a woman transitioned to a guy. But that was back in the olden days of the 90's.
Apparently it's only a small % of trans women (assigned male at birth) actually get genital surgery, and a much smaller % of trans men. From what I know, not being trans myself but having some trans women in my acquaintance, you can function quite well as your true identity without - you'd just need to be very upfront with any potential sexual/romantic partners.
Load More Replies...Reasonable question. Did the surgeon really mean temporarily move them? (And if that’s a photo of you in the post, I think the surgeon went a bit too far. )
Actually my aunt had breast cancer and they took fat from her hips and twisted it into a nipple shape and put them on the breasts they made from her stomach and tattooed on areolas. So that can be done
All these weirdos at school think I change biological gender not just my identity 🤣💀
Um, cause I'm gender fluid... I was worried that wasn't clear spory
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One time I had to explain to a parent that the “bump” on their child’s foot they were worried about was an ankle.
My sister got hauled off to the ER from Girl Scout Camp after a picnic table collapsed on her because she had an "unusual" bump on her ankle. Well, she has them on both ankles, and so do I, but the camp nurse never thought to look...
Better to rush a child to the Dr for gas, than to ignore a broken arm.
Load More Replies...My mom told me she took me to the doctor as a baby because I had hiccups. But she was concerned of her little baby shaking uncontrollable... 🤣
Panicky First Time Moms. At least even if it was an oops they cared enough about their child to make sure. This is what we call a brain fart
Those fat little sausages known as toes must have made their heart stop.
Oooh, it looks like your kid has grown a malleolus! We're going to need to remove their fibula.
One time my mom thought I had a huge bee sting on my knee but no, just a bone, and just really skinny.
I had a colleague in her thirties with children who had come to the UK after marriage - she asked me one day if you could use tampons before you were married. She honestly had no clue about her own anatomy.
When I was in my early 20s, I had a female coworker who was at least 35 say she never used tampons because there are "so many holes down there." She was confused by her own anatomy!
Obviously, she comes from an Islamic country, and asked whether virgins could use tampons... the hymen staying intact being the main concern here.
When I started my period, back in 1968, I wanted to use tampons so I could go swimming every day. My mother told me, "You can't because you are not married." Me, "What does that have to do with it?" No answer. Mom was not going to explain about a hyman to me, and I am sure that she thought that I would no longer be a virgin.
She knows her anatomy all right, It's you who has no clue about the cultural diversity. In many cultures people pay a great importance to the premarital abstinence, this said, there are still some women who are not keen to damage the hymen expecting it to be painful or uncomfortable and preferring to use pads before they get sexually active. All in all, question is very valid, period :)
I've never laughed at girls who use magazines for sex ed - a magazine was the ONLY place that ever recommended women should get a mirror, lie down, and have a good look at your own genital set-up. Not teachers, not textbooks - Cosmo gave the most sensible sex ed I ever read.
Had a mother ask if it was true that the soft spot of her baby’s head was “like a whale blow hole” that he could breathe out of. Apparently her own mother had told her that.
And we are the highest evolved species? It makes me doubt evolution. If people are this stupid, how can they reproduce? Doesn't this contradict the " fittest of the fittest'. These people do not fit anywhere.
Sometimes in pregnancy women’s bellies can gain a little bit of hair, I assume from extra hormones etc. During a routine prenatal check a partner asked if it was the fetus’ hair poking through her skin.
Some people go through life in a hazy, confused waking dream state.
I tend to do that, Walter, but in my case it's only self-defence, like when I see posts like these.
Load More Replies...are ... we not supposed to have hair on our bellies if we're not pregnant ?????
"I'm sorry to tell you but it appears your partner will be giving birth to a sasquatch!"
"What, how could it be a sasquatch?! We had the perfect werewolf name picked out and everything!"
Load More Replies...Sure it is! And you must comb it 100 times a day! Also wash with mild anti dandruff shampoo and don't use any other product.
So when the baby turns the hair will get sucked back into the stomach wall that is so creepy I am very glad that's not how things work
Holistic doctors have convinced a lot of people that adding BLEACH to their drinking water will cure chronic diseases.
Literally a high enough dosage to stain clothing being drank through a straw.
BEST part is there's no convincing them otherwise.
Personally I think this is a good thing. More Trump supporters need to be drinking deadly chemicals for everyone else's sake.
Load More Replies...Well, technically it will cure all of your chronic diseases, along with heart problems, breathing problems, financial problems...
Listen, if people will take a horse deworming pill for Covid, nothing can surprise me. I have friends whose son and family went to another state to take these pills. The guy has a degree ! His own business ! Nature let him survive into mature adulthood ! You can’t make this s**t up!
There might be a de-worming pill for humans, but that ain't going to work either.
Load More Replies...Well, most municipal water systems do have chlorine in the water, but not that high of an amount. But we do use straight up bleach to sterilize the pipes and pumps.👍
Don't call those idiots "Doctors". Liars and charlatans. Like Trump (ps here in the UK trump is slang for a fart...)
I’m in the mental health field but I met with a client who was worried that if their relative had a heart transplant would the relative still love and remember them. The logic being that the feeling of love lives in the heart.
Sweet if it comes from a child, just baffling if it comes from an adult.
Some of these things have a bit of basis in fact, like this one. It's fairly widely 'known' that peoples' personalities can change drastically after heart bypass surgery, it can cause depression, anxiety (which I think are understandable) , but also anger issues, lack of concentration, 'fuzziness' etc. Maybe they heard this and misunderstood?
I've also heard of cases where the recipients of organ transplants, especially the heart, they can take on characteristics of the donor. Suddenly, they start liking foods they didn't like before, their personalities can shift... things like that. Some even claim getting other memories. So maybe our ancestors didn't have it completely wrong. Really hard to know for sure since there's still so much about the human body that we still don't know.
Load More Replies...post about something thinking feelings come from the heart? strawberry!!
The strawberry in the picture is vaguely heart shaped. Vaguely.
Load More Replies...Transplant recipients often have cravings and unusual characteristics that they find the organ donor was partial to.its an actual thing.
Eh I mean life circumstances and emotions can affect your physical heart which is why we have broken heart syndrom. Plus we know that stress affects a lot of health issues and even genes. This post is sweet and silly but it's not totally crazy. There's whole forms of therapy that revolve around trauma being stored in the body.
I think it is a fair question. Where in the body does love reside? "Modern" human beings have been around for about 80,000 years, and who has the answer?
Pregnant patient during ultrasound: “my baby loves Doritos.” Me performing the ultrasound on said baby: “awww, baby is opening its mouth!” Pregnant patient: “omg! It’s Doritos! I just had Doritos! It’s EATING the Doritos!”
I mean it's common for pregnant women to express their food cravings/aversions as "Baby really loves ___ " or "Baby hates ____" But I didn't think any took it quite so literally
My ex-MIL told me that I shouldn't go swimming while pregnant because I could drown the baby. Pretty sure that baby isn't breathing and lives in fluid for 9 months. She had 5 kids. Sweet woman but dumber than a box of rocks.
I've had male patients in my audiology clinic tell me they have fallopian tube issues. Perhaps I shouldn't assume they mean eustachian tube issues, but I do.
If you're googling problems with hearing and concluding that it's probably a problem in your Fallopian tubes, then James is right, you are very bad at googling
Load More Replies...Told A Woman I Have Prostrate Problems. She Said She Didn't Worry Because She Had Hers Out Years Ago
I worked with a woman who was complaining about hers, Dr Google was very clear to her.
Load More Replies...the stock pic is werid. it looks like someone's house. bu very sadly undecorated.
They seem to think that, by pausing a ‘seizure’ to inform us that they’re having a seizure, they’ll get benzos. Lol no.
Yes, really. Some people think that ERs are their sort of personal dispensary, and will waste no end of staff time complaining of pain or anxiety and demanding their drugs of choice. Hell, I even had one admitted, complained of intractable abdominal pain and kept miming dry heaves, and of course she had a list of "medication" allergies that included every painkiller on Earth except the one she liked...
Load More Replies...We walked into the jail for a reported seizure. Guy is laying on the floor flopping around. "what's going on?" Stops flopping and looks up at us "I'm having a seizure dumbass!" resumes flopping.
I have frontal lobe seizures- they happen when o get really sick or stressed or tired. All my seizures have been witnessed (thank god) and apparently I scream, fall, bite my tongue and shake violently. When I finally come to, I can't say anything- like, I know the answer, but I can't make my mouth work, I can only shake my head yes or no. Once, I had one at work and apparently I was trying to "ground" myself and ended up sticking my fingers in my bosses hole-y jeans (he had me sitting up against him. That was embarrassing. They also make my body hurt like hell for DAYS, like, every single muscle in my body hurt. It's awful
I had a friend of mine with epilepsy and trust me there was no turning it off halfway through. My somatic anxiety causes my seizures and I can't turn mine off halfway through either. The lengths people will try to go through to get free drugs. If they had that much energy put into something positive instead they probably have a job a wife and several kids. It's amazing how much energy a junkie will put into getting high versus something positive
In the olden days (yep here I go again) we had to take a class in how to spot fake problems - such as seizures had one guy seizing and the doc. said now if this is the worst kind of seizure when I put his arms strait up in the air they will stay - booted is ass out quick! Believe me their are all kinds of tricks!
Few years ago Ireland tightened up on OTC medications, mainly codeine. If you go into a pharmacy looking for solpadeine prepare to be interrogated. They might try get you to buy Panadol or the like instead. If you refuse (because Panadol is shite) then that must mean you're an addict looking for a fix.
They changed it in the last few years in nz, you used to be able to get panadeine at a pharmacy the same way, if a pharmacist approved. Now it's prescription only
Load More Replies...Yeah, I had one guy that was drug seeking call to say he was having a seizure. I stood in the doorway where he couldn’t see me. As soon as he did, he started flopping all over the place. Then he said he was having chest pain when he realized I wouldn’t give him Ativan.
I’m a phlebotomist. I’ve had so many patents tell me “blood is blue until it touches air.”
Well, I actually heard that in high school science class! Apparently it was thought to be true, back when people thought the hemoglobin molecules dropped off all the oxygen they carried in the capillary beds. Actually, venous blood is about 70% oxygenated, and if you see blood circulaing through an ECMO machine (heart-lung bypass), the venous blood is darker red than arterial, but not a lot darker.
There is little biology taught in nursing school its normally physiology (teaching of body functions) or atonatomy. Today I have learned something. Thank you.
Load More Replies...To be fair. There's a lot of schools in the US that actually taught this. I was like.. 19 before I realized that this was not fucken true. Along with tons and tons and tons of other s**t. Lol.
True - I remember being taught that in 7th grade Biology class, back in 1963!
Load More Replies...Yep, we were TAUGHT this in biology back in the olden days, deoxygenated boood was blue , also that certain parts of your tongue tasted different things, E,g. Only the front of your tongue could taste sweet things, the back could taste salt etc (I’m 54 so not that long ago)
Taught the same thing in nursing school in 1964. Plus you needed to have taken Latin in high school! We probably killed more patients than we saved back then!
Load More Replies...unfortunately, I've had to correct fellow teachers on that one. I remember being told that in JH science class and asking my Mom. She went up to explain to the teacher that no that wasn't true. Source - Mom was a Chemist who was involved in renal research and the first kidney transplants in Houston. I think she had to get an immunologist and trauma surgeon who both had kids in the same school involved before the science department accepted the truth.
Oh gosh is it bad that I just realized that this is true and our blood isn’t blue? I’ve never been taught otherwise, just heard it was blue once and rolled with it.
To be fair, I thought blood was bright red. Like a firetruck. This is because I never look when they take my blood. One day I looked and asked the nurse why my blood was so dark red, almost black. I thought I had a serious illness...
I taught a college level health ed class, and the misconceptions were truly astonishing.
Students wondered why household bleach could not be injected into a vein to cure HIV, and questioned why alcoholics were not immune since alcohol is an antiseptic.
I don't understand why you are surprised by this, Your president seemed to think it was a good idea and he said he was very smart, in fact smarter than anyone.
True, but college level????? Is this only in the US, I must ask?
Load More Replies...Not strong enough, needs to be approx 70% alcohol. Could try drinking handwash though.
Load More Replies...This is why to he GOP and religion needs to stay away from school policies and let the profeßional educaters do their job
These are not bad questions. I mean alcohol can kill bacteria and viruses and so can bleach. I would say it is a great question to ask what makes it unsafe or to not work inside the body. But then again, if you are a teacher who don't know about the subject you are teaching, I get why you hate questions.
Not a medical professional, but I had a coworker who did not know she had a urethra. She thought that was something only men had. I had to break it to her that she did indeed have a urethra.
If you look on the Flickr account it explains, its an examination room in a cold war bunker in Canada. 'Irreverently know as the “Diefenbunker,” this structure is a powerful symbol of Canada’s response to the Cold War. Designed in the 1950s to withstand all but a direct hit by a nuclear weapon, it was intended to shelter key political and military personnel during a nuclear attack. Fortunately, it never saved its intended purpose, although the Diefenbaker government made plans to retreat to its protection during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The bunker functioned as the hub of a communications network and civil defence system until it closed in 1994.'
Load More Replies...Im a woman, had a female coworker ask why i needed surgery to pass a kidney stone because "women push out babies all the time". Had to explain to her that we don't pee out of our vaginas...
I think this is probably the most common one, that both some men and some women for whatever reasons think.. that women pee out of their vagina
Load More Replies...After I retired from the military, I went to cosmology school, to learn a trade that was fun and made people happy. No regrets. The school was eleven months long. I was by far the eldest student, most were in their early twenties. Many many conversations over that year. I was constantly astonished at how little those girls knew about their own bodies, or any bodies for that matter. No judgment, just gently helped as much as I could.
Err, cosmology is a branch of astronomy that involves the study of thr origin and evolution of the universe.
Load More Replies...I know this room ! It was in a 1941 movie about illegal abortions ! But it looks like they cleaned it up quite a bit.
Was she one of those women that thinks they urinate out of their vagina?
I used to take retinal photos to look for diabetic retinopathy. When I would call to make appointments, more than once a patient said “Well I just saw the proctologist.” No sir, these are retinal photos, not rectal photos.
Yeah and if you start with calling from eye doctor...every industry has its own vernacular and people who don't work in that field may not know them t****r
Load More Replies...When you need opto-rectal surgery to cut the nerve between the eyes and the a$$hole to cure you of your shitty outlook on life?
rectal photography suck...the day you finally realize that you are not "beautiful on the inside"
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. This is a quote from the first proctologist to perform open heart surgery…..
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I'm not a doctor, but my sister works in a hospital. No, you don't need to go to the ER for a papercut. You won't bleed out
Oh come on now - that's obviously different than what this post is referring to. That's fine and everyone knows it. We're talking about people who abuse the ER or use it as their personal doctor.
Load More Replies...Oh man, I had a papercut yesterday and I just put on a band-aid and kept working. Good thing I didn't bleed out since I was so careless 😱
People misuse the ER and 911/ambulances all the time. The ER is for emergencies - not because you have a minor cold and decided you can't wait until morning to see your regular doctor It really pisses me off to hear that someone called an ambulance because they stubbed their toe. I mean WTF? And don't get me started on the ones who call 911 because their pizza order was delivered wrong. The stupidity is astounding.
I work in a hospital, once had new parents (totally panicked)bring in their baby for a mosquito bite.
“How are you feeling today?” “Not great, I have a cough that starts from an emotion in my throat and chest. That emotion disturbs me.”
... a bacterial pneumonia ... roommate is a neighborhood “spiritual guru”
Emotions can cause physical reactions like coughing or yawning. Also tears and laughter.
Look - there is evidence, albeit anecdotal, that monitoring and correcting emotional and mental states can improve health. What these shuckster spiritual guru types fail to tell, and perhaps do not themselves know is that that type of control over one's body takes an almost exclusive lifetime focus on developing that type of control over one's body... Is it possible - of course! Are you or anyone going to be able to master it in a few weeks - bwahahahahahahhhhaaa choke, gasp - yeahhhhno. Nope - not gonna happen. Do the things you can otherwise including Western Medicine.
That said - it's not going to hurt to be more positive, focus on positive outcomes etc, but still keep your appointments...
Load More Replies...but when they'll have the emotion that will revealing them how dumb they are?
That the only reason to eat healthy is to manage weight. Also that alcohol is not harmful unless you are a full on alcoholic.
Alcohol is harmful unless you're an alcoholic, taking alcohol away from an alcoholic can kill them...
Alcohol is definitely also harmful if you’re an alcoholic.
Load More Replies...So much prejudice and misconceptions about alcoholics (or addicts in general). They aren't just the homeless guy on your street, they are also your boss/friend/doctor etc. Many people are functioning alcoholics, they have a job, friends and a family etc. That doesn't mean they are not addicted. The point is it can happen to everyone. You don't have to be in the gutter to be an alcoholic.
Alcohol itself is not harmful. A glass of wine or even a beer can have positive effects on health. Tinctures made with alcohol and plant materials have been used medicinally for thousands of years to boost health. Alcohol is not the issue. The misuse and over consumption of Alcohol is what is unhealthy.
if somebody told you that drinking fungus piss would be fun, would you drink it anyway?... that is all that alcohol is... beware of fungus piss
And honey is just bee barf. So drink a nice mead and enjoy the best of both worlds!
Load More Replies...When I switched to a plant based diet people just assumbed it was for weight loss . 90 % said but you don't need to lose weight.
Alcohol is toxic, ergo harmful. Be very moderate. Eating healthy should be the norm, not just to lose weight, but because it's the right thing to do for your body. Why are people so freaking stupid? How can they not know these things. I get not understanding, but not to even have heard.... ffs nevermind...
I’m an X-ray tech working in a mammography clinic, had a young woman come up to the desk and ask if she could ride home in the same car with her mom who just had amammogram and might still be “radioactive”
I asked a man if he had a latex allergy before bringing him back for his procedure. He said "yes", and followed it up with "gloves and stuff don't bother me, but every time I get a urine catheter placed I get a UTI
This looks more like there is poor communication with their patients, or people not getting enough education. Then there is the lack of follow up to see if medication is being taken properly.
It's also possible that whoever was inserting the catheter wasn't following sterile procedure.
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I once administered a certain type of breathing test to a 58 y/o female patient who worked at a manufacturing plant on 8 hour shifts. In self-reporting her smoking history, she told me she smoked up to 8 packs of cigarettes a day.
I think her misconception was that she was going to live forever....
That’s like 8 cigarettes an hour…more than 1 every 10 mins for her entire waking day (if they’re packs of 20 and she’s awake for 18 hours a day)
Load More Replies...I would think it is literally impossible to smoke 8 packs per day.
In the good old days smoking used to be healthy, my mum's doctor wanted her to start smoking when she was in her late teens.
My mother used to say they didn't know smoking was bad when she started, but here is an article from 1798 by US Surgeon General Benjamin Rush describing the deleterious effects of smoking that they knew about at that time, including cancer. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N25938.0001.001/1:7.14?rgn=div2;view=fulltext
Load More Replies...In California that would be $80 a day for cigarettes if you smoked a name brand. A little less for an for brand cigarette.
Must be one of those "light the new cig with the butt of the old one" type of smokers.
anddd some of these show exactly why we need better sex education. many unwanted pregnancies and other dangerous health complications could all be avoided if we stopped dancing around the topic and actually taught children and teens about their own bodies
Sounds like better education in general is needed in some places.
Load More Replies...The prize for me is still the kid who insisted he couldn't get a girl pregnant if he had already ejaculated from masturbation that day. Apparently, he was under the impression he gets one batch of sperm per diem. (Fortunately, he had not reproduced; she was negative on urine and blood and exam.)
At least I get that one, I remember hearing that semen has less sperm in it basically throughout the day, so if he also heard that I can understand the slight confusion there.
Load More Replies...The sad truth is that some people just aren't intelligent, both in terms of lacking the natural gifts that lead to intelligence in adulthood, and/or never having had anyone help them develop their minds. My job has exposed me to people from all levels of society, from the wealthy to the down-and-out poor, and I've seen what effects a lack of education or a lack of natural gifts can have on a vulnerable person. Being unable to manage their own health is only one thing that can go tragically wrong.
You speak absolute truth, Otter. I've seen it too, as you say, at all levels of society.
Load More Replies...My dad was a doctor. In 1962 Mom took us kids to the Seattle World's Fair. On the way we stopped and visited all the doctors and their families that we had all known in medical school. At one place we stopped and my mom called their very best friends. She called his office and when the receptionist answered my mom asked to speak to "Dr. H." The receptionist asked what it was in reference to and my mom said "you tell that son of a b***h that those damn suppositories he gave me were so big I had to cut them up to swallow them and for all the good they did me I might as well have stuck them up my @$$." The next voice on the phone was Dr. H and he said "Bets, where are you?"
Had a client come in with her newborn daughter, concerned the baby was poo-ing from her vagina. This mother had a degree, a well-paying job, all the usual ear-marks of privilege and education. She had done some googling and thought the baby had a “recto-vaginal fistula” (used the terminology and everything). I said “well, we’d better have a look at her”. On examination the mother pointed to the baby’s a**s and said “See? The poo is coming from there”. We then did a 15 minute female anatomy lesson where I proceeded to show her exactly where her daughter’s urethra, vagina and a**s were, and the function of each part. And the part she thought was supposed to be doing the pooing was, in fact, the tiniest of dimples.
I used to watch House and they always had some really funny patient scenes in the clinic. One of my favs was this woman who insisted her inhaler wasn't working for her and after questioning her he asked her to show him how she uses it, and it turns out she was spraying it like perfume on her neck.
My ex husband refused to make sex with me because his penis could hurt the baby. Only after Dr assured that it was save, he believed it. He is a very intelligent big 5 stars hotel manager.
To be fair, I believe this is a common fear for some men.
Load More Replies...The diabetic teaching, or lack thereof, and not verifying with the patient what they understand and don't is downright dangerous. But some of the patients I looked after, bless their hearts, truly, sometimes it was difficult to keep from laughing right then and there. Nope. They genuinely don't understand. That's what's important. But when back at the nurse's station, in the break room, 😆
anddd some of these show exactly why we need better sex education. many unwanted pregnancies and other dangerous health complications could all be avoided if we stopped dancing around the topic and actually taught children and teens about their own bodies
Sounds like better education in general is needed in some places.
Load More Replies...The prize for me is still the kid who insisted he couldn't get a girl pregnant if he had already ejaculated from masturbation that day. Apparently, he was under the impression he gets one batch of sperm per diem. (Fortunately, he had not reproduced; she was negative on urine and blood and exam.)
At least I get that one, I remember hearing that semen has less sperm in it basically throughout the day, so if he also heard that I can understand the slight confusion there.
Load More Replies...The sad truth is that some people just aren't intelligent, both in terms of lacking the natural gifts that lead to intelligence in adulthood, and/or never having had anyone help them develop their minds. My job has exposed me to people from all levels of society, from the wealthy to the down-and-out poor, and I've seen what effects a lack of education or a lack of natural gifts can have on a vulnerable person. Being unable to manage their own health is only one thing that can go tragically wrong.
You speak absolute truth, Otter. I've seen it too, as you say, at all levels of society.
Load More Replies...My dad was a doctor. In 1962 Mom took us kids to the Seattle World's Fair. On the way we stopped and visited all the doctors and their families that we had all known in medical school. At one place we stopped and my mom called their very best friends. She called his office and when the receptionist answered my mom asked to speak to "Dr. H." The receptionist asked what it was in reference to and my mom said "you tell that son of a b***h that those damn suppositories he gave me were so big I had to cut them up to swallow them and for all the good they did me I might as well have stuck them up my @$$." The next voice on the phone was Dr. H and he said "Bets, where are you?"
Had a client come in with her newborn daughter, concerned the baby was poo-ing from her vagina. This mother had a degree, a well-paying job, all the usual ear-marks of privilege and education. She had done some googling and thought the baby had a “recto-vaginal fistula” (used the terminology and everything). I said “well, we’d better have a look at her”. On examination the mother pointed to the baby’s a**s and said “See? The poo is coming from there”. We then did a 15 minute female anatomy lesson where I proceeded to show her exactly where her daughter’s urethra, vagina and a**s were, and the function of each part. And the part she thought was supposed to be doing the pooing was, in fact, the tiniest of dimples.
I used to watch House and they always had some really funny patient scenes in the clinic. One of my favs was this woman who insisted her inhaler wasn't working for her and after questioning her he asked her to show him how she uses it, and it turns out she was spraying it like perfume on her neck.
My ex husband refused to make sex with me because his penis could hurt the baby. Only after Dr assured that it was save, he believed it. He is a very intelligent big 5 stars hotel manager.
To be fair, I believe this is a common fear for some men.
Load More Replies...The diabetic teaching, or lack thereof, and not verifying with the patient what they understand and don't is downright dangerous. But some of the patients I looked after, bless their hearts, truly, sometimes it was difficult to keep from laughing right then and there. Nope. They genuinely don't understand. That's what's important. But when back at the nurse's station, in the break room, 😆
