Gaining some medical knowledge may be very important for you!

You can almost seemingly get your medical degree on YouTube, and/or via Google.com. However, neither will provide you with as much information and qualified medical knowledge as the following. My favorite 3 medical textbooks of the 13 that I own, are as follows:

"A Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking", by Barbara Bates, M.D.

Next, I needed "Stedman's Medical Dictionary, illustrated in Color", to help me gain a greater understanding of the information that DR. Bates' shared in her book on Physicals.

And, lastly, I found that "Fundamentals of Nursing; The Art and Science of Nursing Care" was an equally necessary part of my limited medical education, to provide me with some of the basic tools, necessary to be a fully accredited play.doc.

Tis my thought that you need some qualified medical textbooks if you are going to play; otherwise, you may well be playing in the dark, and that could be unsafe and/or harmful.

Now, go out and make it a gr8 day!

You can almost seemingly get your medical degree on YouTube, and/or via Google.com. . . .

Hardly,and not even in jest. Neither will the text books.

Susie,

You take 'things' too seriously!

YouTube was a joke.

To read medical textbooks in our 'business', seems to me to be a smart idea to gain some knowledge. Otherwise, we would have a lot of DUMB play.docs, and that could be dangerous. Your choice...

Ligten up a little, please...

Love ya anyway,

Hermann

I completely agree, Hermann, that medical knowledge enhances my play tremendously.

YouTube and Google are great for.... Wait for it.....

DIY tips. NOT for medical advice. A doctor is the only person who can give you REAL medical advice..... any other medium is just speculation and educated guesses. Take it all with a grain of salt, but not sea salt. It's dirty 😉

To Whom It May Concern,

No, I don't agree with the statement of, "A doctor is the only person who can give you REAL medical advice", as a nurse I can give perfect medical advice. Morally and according to my license I am permitted to do so. I am not allowed by law however to diagnose a medical condition on a real patient. When I am not on the clock I can and will give you a few possible diagnosis's with the caveat, "I'm just a nurse though, please keep that in mind".

Now on the other note of books and google and youtube giving play doctors and other layman information to be more knowledgeable, or can play doctor better etc? Well this as always scared me a great deal. While yes I think that if you love something you should get to know as much as you can about it and throw yourself into it as much as you can and to your desire etc. But however there is a huge HUGE problem.

Let me be very clear here, I am not trying to be a killjoy or a bitch or whatever name you want to cast on me this week, lol, but here are my thoughts, and I can pretty much bet that most, if not all real medical professionals will probably agree with me here.

I agree that you can learn a lot from medical books and the like, but the thing with learning medical information isn't what you read, it's what you can apply. When someone goes to medical school or nursing school they learn on average 10 percent of the knowledge that they need to be considered safe to even touch a patient. 90 percent of what you learn and have to know, you learn on the floor, under a close eye of teachers, mentors, or other highly experienced medical professionals.

What laypeople almost always fail to realize is that in medicine nothing is what it seems, nothing about the human body stands alone. It's hard to articulate what I am trying to convey here. But all systems connect to another system in the human body and in order to make a human body work, all systems connect to each other in one way or another. When it comes to practicing medicine you have to fully understand that, and this is just an example, but lets say that you want to play with a catheter, seems simple enough right. I mean all you have to do is insert a tube into the urethra then into the bladder and you can get urine out. But most people don't understand the complexity of the internal structures. Without this knowledge damage can easily be done, hell, even with this knowledge damage can be done.

If you want to play air way games you have to be able to visualize the internal structures on the airway and it's surrounding organs. You have to have seen it done, done it yourself etc. As we say, learn one, do one, teach one. And these are just stupid examples. I have to go, but I will continue this post when I get back from the store. It closes at 9 and it's quarter till. BRB

Karma to Mashie:>

I'm what passes as an "Engineer" and the similarity in professional mindfulness is weighty. One reason many engineering folks drink etc is knowing we can have made a mistake that kills a LOT of people.

Though, even one avoidable death is one to many so I'm very COMFORTED that medicine has Mashie and folks at her level of awareness.

Mashie, I get frightened when some "civilian' starts talking about cervical dilation or intubation. Listen folks, if you want to risk killing someone do it outside our fun "kink" world.

If you really want to "punish" someone with a four quart enema be aware that colon's do rupture, (not nice).

Play safe!

Continuing on with my before post before I had to leave. Thank you to Stephen, and Capy for understanding what I was trying to say there.

It's not just a matter of what can go wrong although that's a huge issue. Laypeople who read medical books and feel they are able to "practice medicine" in a play setting, and by practicing medicine I mean doing anything more invasive than putting a stethoscope on someones chest or lungs are really just fooling themselves.

Can laypeople be safe, yes, I believe they can, to a certain extent. I have people on this site asking me for my medical advice almost on a daily basis, and not meaning to diagnose a medical condition, although I have been asked before on such serious medical issues. But I get a lot of people on here asking me how to do certain medical things, or what kind of equipment to buy and things of the like. I am always more than willing to help and try to teach them the best I can, and when it is above my scope of practice or knowledge, I contact the person who has MD behind his name and get his take on the issue before I reply back. And that's what makes a true medical professional a good medical professional. It's their ability to know when to say when and when to ask for help.

When I train new nurses, which as a supervisor that's usually my job, one of the first things I tell all new grads is this. A new nurse who isn't afraid to ask for help when needed, or isn't afraid to ask the "stupid" question has the potential to be a great nurse. The new nurse who doesn't ask for help, ask questions, or thinks they can save the world is not a good nurse, is very dangerous, and will eventually kill their patients. I say this, and can say this because I have seen examples of both types of nurses a thousand times. When it comes to doctors who are new grads I basically tell them the same sort of thing. "A good doctor is able to recognize, appreciate, and listen to good nurses, to trust their opinions on both medicine and what's good for their patients. A bad doctor sees himself as the doctor and a nurse as just a nurse, ignoring her knowledge of the patient and what she feels the patient needs." Some doctors understand that concept right away and go on to be fantastic doctors. The doctors who don't see that, or who never see that end up resenting their jobs and having their patients and nurses resenting them. We nurses can make a doctors life a complete hell if they don't get this concept, lol. Remember, never piss off your nurse", trust me, lol.

But anyway, I had a cool way of expressing my point to both of these posts while I was at the store, but I forget what I was going to say. I hate that when that happens. Grrrrr. I guess long story short, laypeople learn everything you can from whatever source you want. The more you learn the better your medical lingo will be, and the more real you will come across to another layman. Which makes for a more enjoyable experience for both of you. But always remember that no matter how much you study, no matter how much you practice, no matter how much you think you know, you are still a layman. Without the ability to practice what you learn under a highly trained medical professional, all of your skills and knowledge really, and I hate to say this because it's going to come across really bitchy, but....all of it means nothing. If you learn something that's out of date, or wrong, and you don't have anyone over you to tell you that what you are doing is not right, then it's never going to be right. It's like the blind leading the blind.

Now please don't get me wrong, I appreciate everyone who has a love for all things medical digging in and learning everything you can. I think that's cool as hell actually. I respect that more than you know. While I have long since stopped lecturing people about what is and what isn't safe, or how to be or how not to be safe when it comes to medical things, I realize that people are going to do what they want not matter how much you preach at the top of the mountain, or lead them to water. You can't make them drink it, you can't make them be safe. They, at the end of the day will do whatever they want. So unless someone comes asking, I seldom address it anymore. It's just a waste of time for me, lol.

There is a reason however that you will never see me play with non-medical professionals when engaging in med fet fun fun, with the exception of those I have trained personally and know that they are safe to play in that capacity. But that's just me. Also remember, I have had to learn that lesson the hard way, one in which I am still paying for.

Mashie.

Be careful what you put up there, the colon is a functioning part of your body. What follows is an abstract from a CME (Continuing Medical Education) program.

Home

About

Medical Resource Centers

Image Database

Multimedia

Issues

Subscribe

CME / Conferences

Home

Volume 49 - Issue 8 - August 2009

Photoclinic

Chemical Colitis From Hydrogen Peroxide Enema

Chemical Colitis From Hydrogen Peroxide Enema

Sun, 04/24/11 - 10:51

Authors:

MICHAEL D. BREGLIA, MD, EUGENE Y. KIM, BS,

and ANGELA L. DENIETOLIS, MD

James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa, Fla

A 61-year-old man presented to the emergency department with diffuse lower abdominal pain, nausea, and severe diarrhea (20 episodes within the past 12 hours). His symptoms began the night before and had gradually worsened. He denied fever. His medical history was significant for hypertension.

On further questioning, the patient stated that his symptoms began immediately after the application of a self-prepared enema—a solution of 6 tablespoons of over-the-counter 35% hydrogen peroxide mixed with 1 quart of distilled water. He had performed this “cleansing” ritual once a month for several months without prior incident.

The patient was mildly tachycardic, with a heart rate of 112 beats per minute; he otherwise was hemodynamically stable. There was mild, diffuse abdominal tenderness. Stool was positive for gross blood. The remaining physical findings were unremarkable.

A

The patient was hospitalized. Laboratory data included mild anemia (hemoglobin level of 12.2 g/dL; reference, 14 to 17 g/dL) and leukocytosis (white blood cell count of 17,500/µL; reference, 4200 to 10,300/μL).

A CT scan of the abdomen revealed diffuse wall thickening with pericolonic inflammation of the distal colon from the level of the descending colon to the rectum. A lower endoscopy showed evidence of active colitis with edematous, granular mucosal folds; ulcerations; and exudates that extended from the rectum to the splenic flexure, about 65 cm (A and B). Pathological findings of multiple biopsy specimens from the left colon, terminal ileum, and rectum were consistent with colitis and revealed benign colonic mucosa with mild to moderate inflammation and ulceration.

Accidental and nonaccidental exposure of colonic mucosa to various toxic chemicals is a well-known cause of chemical colitis. Most cases occur after accidental contamination of endoscopic hardware with glutaraldehyde or hydrogen peroxide.1 Chemical colitis less commonly results from rectal administration of medicines or enemas for routine bowel cleansing, suicide attempts, constipation relief, or sexual practices. Other toxins implicated in the development of chemical colitis include alcohol, radiocontrast agents, formalin, ergotamine, acids/bases, herbal medicines, household disinfectants, and potassium permanganate.1-5

B

Symptoms of chemical colitis—intermittent abdominal pain, fecal incontinence, severe diarrhea, hematochezia—are usually self-limited. However, severe mucosal injury from various chemicals has been associated with peritonitis, ischemic colitis requiring colectomy, colonic strictures, and rectovaginal fistulas.1 A severe case of colitis resulting in death from the self-administration of a hydrogen peroxide enema has been reported.2

Cleansing enemas have been promoted by television ads, home remedy books, and Internet articles that often focus more on the benefits of bowel cleansing than on the associated risks. Awareness of these coloncleansing rituals is important, especially when evaluating patients with nonspecific GI symptoms or endoscopic findings, which could be mistaken for ulcerative colitis or Crohn disease. Patients who perform home enemas should be educated about the risks associated with toxin exposure.

Bowel rest, discontinuation of exposure to the toxic agent (in this case, the enemas), broad-spectrum antibiotics, and gastroenterology consultation are usually warranted. This patient was treated with a short course of oral mesalamine as well as oral ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. Within 24 hours of hospital admission, his symptoms abated. The ciprofloxacin was discontinued at discharge. The mesalamine and metronidazole were discontinued 2 weeks later. Results of a colonoscopy at 3-month follow-up were normal.

References:

1. Sheibani S, Gerson LB. Chemical colitis. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2008;42:115-121.

2. Sheehan JF, Brynjolfsson G. Ulcerative colitis following hydrogen peroxide enema: case report and experimental production with transient emphysema of colonic wall and gas embolism. Lab Invest. 1960;9:150-168.

3. Meyer CT, Brand M, DeLuca VA, Spiro HM. Hydrogen peroxide colitis: a report of three patients. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1981;3:31-35.

4. Creteur V, Douglas D, Galante M, Margulis AR. Inflammatory colonic changes produced by contrast material. Radiology. 1983;147:77-78.

5. Pizzute C. Self-administered alcohol (vodka) enema causing severe colitis: case report and review. Gastrointest Endosc. 2006;63:1087-1088.

I have read of some pretty strange and dangerous things being put into the colon, both chemical content and volume. The colon has a limited volume, has a delicate lining, is fairly thin walled and as absorbent membrane is a portal into your body.

Please be careful.

Rob

Having a little bit of knowledge under your wing goes a long way in terms of keeping you safe, always check your facts people.