The Medical Thread

^^ something we have been told that's really good for us is really bad for us? That's like the first time that's ever happened!!!

Veterans face another battle fighting prescription drug addiction

'Mississippi Baby' now has detectable HIV, researchers find

Should've seen that coming a mile away. Still depressed.

Speaking of depressing, apparently lovers of rats (they do make excellent pets) have to constantly put with the issue of rat tumors, especially in the case of females.

.....

.....

.....so I actually looked up what rat tumor looks like.

Why am I doing this to myself, exactly?

Non-invasive urine test could be used to predict premature birth, delivery of small babies

New simple setup for X-ray phase contrast

...Because you enjoy pain.

CDC Closes Labs After Exposing Employees to Live Anthrax and Bird Flu

In my urban-fantasy, one of my characters is a guy with long (roughly shoulder-length) hair. He's also gay and gets attacked by homophobes, so he eventually jumps in a river to get rid of them. He stays in the river for a fair few hours because it's spring and the snow-melt has nearly doubled its normal size/strength, and then he has a head wound in addition to other injuries, so he definitely wasn't thinking normally when he thought "I'mma make a speech about how not-afraid of anything I am, and then I'll jump into the river to prove I'm not going to die today."

I wrote that his hair needed to be cut to two or three inches because 1) they couldn't reach his head wound, and 2) he was hypothermic and they didn't feel safe trying to wash/detangle it until he was warmed back up three hours later, which meant everything was caked into his hair.

Long story short, is this feasible? Apparently your hair can take a surprising amount of abuse, but most of the advice I can find for detangling matted hair is for relatively healthy/uninjured people.

Survival-wise, he's a mage who's very not-squishy and he used an oak branch for both magical and literal protection in the river, but I don't like my magic to be too game-breaking.

You'd think that several hours in running water would've rinsed his hair sufficiently... How bad is the injury, and is surgery warranted?

I had a look at the current literature: shaving before surgery increases the risk of surgical site infections, and infection control guidelines recommend removing as little hair as possible. Clippers or scissors are preferred.

If it's a minor head wound, there's even less of an indication to shave the entire head, but there's always time to clean the required area. I can't help you with matted hair, but that's really low on the list of priorities as far as emergency treatment is concerned.

Shaving increases infection risk? How so?

It's suggested that microabrasions and broken skin can lead to a higher risk of skin and wound infections.

edited 11th Jul '14 8:19:13 PM by Pyrite

I imagine the nicks/cuts would be why.

Also, he probably does get it washed out by the river, but he also spends a while lying semi-conscious in mud before his friend finds him. The tangles would also be a bitch.

The head wound requires stitches and leaves a scar, but he'd only have a minor concussion if any. They can't take him to the hospital because it's a small town and he's rather infamous for being troublesome, so he's very lucky that his grandfather is a folk healer trained in first-aid.

edited 11th Jul '14 8:26:45 PM by Sharysa

Huh, I thought abrasion was a dental term. So shaving actually breaks your skin, even a little bit (a lot, if you are in the hands of bad barber, I guess). Never really thought about that.

Shaving is like mini exfoliation. That's why your skin is so smooth the day you shave.

Ooh, I see.

Sharysa: In your scenario, I can't think of a really good indication for such a drastic haircut for a minor injury, unless it's done after the fact and for cosmetic reasons. (If anyone does, do point it out to me.)

Minor? It needs stitches and leaves a scar.

Unless minor just means "not a (severe) concussion" in medical terms? Either way, thanks for the input.

edited 11th Jul '14 10:07:00 PM by Sharysa

Sorry. When I said "minor", I meant "not requiring major surgery". (I need to work on my mastery of the understatement. Also, don't get it mixed up with mild traumatic brain injury, which is another story.)

edited 11th Jul '14 10:18:18 PM by Pyrite

What classifies as minor injuries?

I see the term all the time on the news and so on, I'm a bit curious as to what exactly is and isn't a minor injury.

...Dammit, I knew someone was going to ask that question. Can't answer you, honestly, because it'll vary depending on the kind of disease / injury sustained - and if you're talking about conditions in general, it really depends on the kind of disease / injury sustained.

edited 11th Jul '14 10:20:19 PM by Pyrite

DNA Scissors Can Perform Surgery On Your Genes

Pyrite: That clears things up, thanks!

I'm a bit terrified to click on that.

Oh, thank goodness. I thought it just was me who suddenly turned weirdly eeky.

edited 12th Jul '14 1:51:14 AM by Euodiachloris

According to my lecture notes:

So I presume minor injuries would be "anything else".