[Racer X 69]

Are you going to do that at work. They have a nice big area to do it, and even to invite guests (paying or otherwise) to watch?

If I did that at work I would get arrested.

Oh, and also lose my job.

So, no.

It would be fun though, wouldn't it?

[Racer X 69]

No mention of lutefisk?

I know, right?

What a bunch of lightweights.

[Racer X 69]

And I will get swabbed. I have tortured hundreds of poor patients that way so far, now it's my turn to tango. Yikes.

I hear the swabbing is quite unpleasant. A swab deep into the throat, enough to gag a person, followed by swabs into the nasal passage as deeply as the throat swab.

Haven't experienced it myself, or seen it done, but is has been described to me.

Why must it be so unpleasant? Do they have to go that deep to catch such a virulent bug?

[MarkJerling]

I hear the swabbing is quite unpleasant. A swab deep into the throat, enough to gag a person, followed by swabs into the nasal passage as deeply as the throat swab.

Haven't experienced it myself, or seen it done, but is has been described to me.

Why must it be so unpleasant? Do they have to go that deep to catch such a virulent bug?

They simply have a better chance of locating it there than in the mouth where other bacteria and the body's own defences deal to it more easily.

[savoche]

Is that the famous Norwegian honey badger, scourge of Dovrefjell, menace of the valleys of Jotunheimen

Yes, that must be it. I'll go look for it in Jotunheimen in August.

And later, when you lot get a handle on that stupid virus, I'll go back and have another look for it in the Kalahari.

You know, they say some of the camps even have window cleaners

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[savoche]

Why must it be so unpleasant? Do they have to go that deep to catch such a virulent bug?

Hey, it's free "treatment". Of course it has to be unpleasant.

[FantasticMrFox]

I hear the swabbing is quite unpleasant. A swab deep into the throat, enough to gag a person, followed by swabs into the nasal passage as deeply as the throat swab.

Haven't experienced it myself, or seen it done, but is has been described to me.

Why must it be so unpleasant? Do they have to go that deep to catch such a virulent bug?

The point with either route is to get to the posterior wall of the nasopharynx, the level of the pharynx sitting behind the nose - because that's where respiratory viruses (the procedure is the same with influenza testing) like to frolic. Either way you need to go deep, basically to the level of the ears when looking at the head from the side. There is some evidence that test results are slightly more reliable when going through the nose, and the patient is less likely to gag and cough in our face, which of course protects us from taking a broadside of Covid to the face So that's what we prefer at our testing station.

But we only swab once under normal conditions. We try through the nose, and if it doesn't work (too narrow or patient doesn't tolerate) we swab through the mouth. We only swab twice if a confirmed positive case gets tested again, then we go nose followed by mouth.

However, there's more and more evidence coming in from studies in Hong Kong and the US that simple, easy, non-invasive saliva samples are just as reliable as swabs are. I'm just waiting for the patients to catch on and turn up at our institute with torches and pitchforks

I had the nose swab once just for giggles when a colleague and I decided we need to find out what the fuss is all about and swabbed each other (without sending it in for testing, of course), and boy, I did not giggle in the end. Burns and stings and all. So yesterday my physician colleague kindly swabbed me through the mouth when I actually had to get swabbed for real.

---

Last edited by FantasticMrFox; 07-15-2020 at 02:41 AM.

[FantasticMrFox]

You know, they say some of the camps even have window cleaners

You're sure they wanted the water and not the Bell's bottle behind the window?

[Racer X 69]

Jotunheimen

I think you spelled it wrong. Although since there aren't any virgins anymore, no one will notice.

[CharLac]

I hear the swabbing is quite unpleasant. A swab deep into the throat, enough to gag a person, followed by swabs into the nasal passage as deeply as the throat swab.

Haven't experienced it myself, or seen it done, but is has been described to me.

Why must it be so unpleasant? Do they have to go that deep to catch such a virulent bug?

Mrs CharLac had to go through the indignity, she described it as a being violated through her nasal cavity...

[CharLac]

And back to BACON....it just felt like a "Pure Evil in the Pan" kind of morning

[gaweidert]

The point with either route is to get to the posterior wall of the nasopharynx, the level of the pharynx sitting behind the nose - because that's where respiratory viruses (the procedure is the same with influenza testing) like to frolic. Either way you need to go deep, basically to the level of the ears when looking at the head from the side. There is some evidence that test results are slightly more reliable when going through the nose, and the patient is less likely to gag and cough in our face, which of course protects us from taking a broadside of Covid to the face So that's what we prefer at our testing station.

But we only swab once under normal conditions. We try through the nose, and if it doesn't work (too narrow or patient doesn't tolerate) we swab through the mouth. We only swab twice if a confirmed positive case gets tested again, then we go nose followed by mouth.

However, there's more and more evidence coming in from studies in Hong Kong and the US that simple, easy, non-invasive saliva samples are just as reliable as swabs are. I'm just waiting for the patients to catch on and turn up at our institute with torches and pitchforks

I had the nose swab once just for giggles when a colleague and I decided we need to find out what the fuss is all about and swabbed each other (without sending it in for testing, of course), and boy, I did not giggle in the end. Burns and stings and all. So yesterday my physician colleague kindly swabbed me through the mouth when I actually had to get swabbed for real.

Question? A few years ago I had a dental implant on an upper molar. As part of the procedure they had to punch a hole through the bone into my sinus cavity. This to implant a bone graft to help old the stud in place. Would this interfere with a swab? The membrane of the sinus cavity itself was not compromised. It was a rather weird experience having the dental surgeon take a hammer and punch to my skull while just sitting there like nothing was happening.

[RoxnDox]

The internal sound effects must have been terrible though... I can still recall vividly the sound of my wisdom teeth being ripped out with big ass pliers - decades ago, mind you. And an Army dentist.

[FantasticMrFox]

Question? A few years ago I had a dental implant on an upper molar. As part of the procedure they had to punch a hole through the bone into my sinus cavity. This to implant a bone graft to help old the stud in place. Would this interfere with a swab? The membrane of the sinus cavity itself was not compromised. It was a rather weird experience having the dental surgeon take a hammer and punch to my skull while just sitting there like nothing was happening.

There are several systems of sinuses that are all connected to the major nasal cavity, as shown in this picture:



For your implant they probably went into the maxillary sinus, which sits above the mouth. The swab goes through the lower nasal meatus (there are three nasal meatus = corridors stacked on top of each other) into the throat - at no point do we take a turn to enter any of the sinuses So no problem there.

The internal sound effects must have been terrible though... I can still recall vividly the sound of my wisdom teeth being ripped out with big ass pliers - decades ago, mind you. And an Army dentist.

I'm thankful to live in this day and age and not back when medical procedures were much more ... martial But then again people in the 2050s may be looking back at what we're doing right now and think 'God, those butchers back then ...'

I had to get all my wisdom teeth removed in one go just before I moved to Ghana (dentist said they'd start to trouble me within a couple of months, and dental services in Ghana are, well ...) - went to a German surgeon who did loads of those procedures for the US army on GIs heading into Iraq and Afghanistan via Germany. He was very impressed with the bone density of African American GIs, said sometimes he did a procedure and had to swap his saw blade afterwards as it had gone blunt.

[Racer X 69]

It was a rather weird experience having the dental surgeon take a hammer and punch to my skull while just sitting there like nothing was happening.

After they carve their way into the joint, and dislocate the hip, the femoral head is sawed off.

The acetabular cup is prepared with a hemispherical cheese grater.

The femur is drilled and reamed, and prepped for the stem.

Then the hammering begins.

You Tube

You Tube

The internal sound effects must have been terrible though... I can still recall vividly the sound of my wisdom teeth being ripped out with big ass pliers - decades ago, mind you. And an Army dentist.

I was 17.

My wisdom teeth had come in fully, and weren't a problem.

The dentist said they would be difficult to clean, cavities would form, and threaten the integrity of the teeth ahead of them, and referred me to an oral surgeon for extraction. The surgeon said I could have it done with a local or a general anesthetic.

My mom told me about the experience when she had hers removed. The drilled holes, the metal bar placed into the holes, twisted to break the teeth, the hammering with a punch, the yanking out of the bits with pliers.

I chose the general anesthetic.

I arrived at the predetermined time, the assistant inserted an IV in my arm.

A tube with two outlets protruding from it was placed under my nose, the two outlets inserted into my nostrils. I remember not liking it, and the smell was odd, almost nauseating.

The surgeon came in, introduced himself, said some things to the assistant, then asked me to count backwards from 100. I remember getting to 96, then couldn't make my mouth say 95.

After what seemed like an instant, I felt like I do when I wake up each day, but in a very "altered state" and my mouth was full of what seemed like fat cigarette butts. They said a bunch of stuff to me that sounded like the adults talking in the Peanuts cartoons, "Wah, wah, whah, whah. Whah whah wah whah wha.", gave me some papers which included a prescription for antibiotics and Codeine.

After I go home I spit out the cigarette butts, took some pills and went to sleep.

The next morning I felt the empty spaces with my tongue, realizing they were gone.

And I have no recollection of the drilling, breaking, hammering and pulling that goes on.