Episode 13 Operation Ouch!

'He's Dr Chris and he's Dr Xand. Yep, we're twins.

'Do you know just how brilliant your body really is?

'Well, now's the time to find out.

'We'll be uncovering the ins and outs of what you're made of.'

There's a big cut there.

'We'll be doing awesome experiments...'

Oh, Chris, that's awful!

'..as we push our own bodies to the limits...'

-OK, here we go.

-Ooohhhh!

HE CHUCKLES

'..to show you all the incredible things your body can do.'

Oh, no!

'Hang around, because this is going to be fun.'

BOTH: Coming up today on Operation Ouch...

'This hungry man hides an amazing body ability,

'Chris joins paramedics at the scene of an emergency...'

There are an awful lot of different causes for tummy pains,

some of them very, very serious.

'..and Xand takes the plunge to show you how tough your skin is.'

Ohhhh!

'But now...'

We're giving you exclusive access

to an Accident and Emergency department.

Let's meet our first patient.

'In Manchester, 11-year-old Akrima

'has come into hospital wearing a sling.'

Think I've broken my arm.

'Well, you're in the right place to find out.

'But first, how did it happen? Akrima was at school.

'It was PE, and everyone was doing gymnastics,

'and he was getting ready to make a champion move.

'Feeling like an Olympic pro, Akrima ran towards a bench,

'jumped high into the air and landed on both feet.

'It was a perfect ten.

'But suddenly, he lost his balance and fell right over,

'right onto his arm. Ouch!

'Well, at least it doesn't look that badly hurt.

'Ah, right. It's THAT arm.

'Yep, that doesn't look good.

'Luckily, Dr Nicola Penrose is on hand to help.'

Ahhh, that's a bit bendy, isn't it, that arm?

Just having a quick glance underneath the sling

that he's got on, it looks like his arm's...

well, the wrong shape, really.

It's bendy. His arm's what we're calling a banana arm.

'Did she say...'

Banana arm.

'Wow! Akrima's got a banana arm.'

Where my arm's nice and straight, his arm's sort of going that way

a little bit. There's a bit of a sag in the middle of it, where it

looks like he might have broken a bone or something.

'Time to find out for sure. It's off to X-ray, and there it is.

'Yep, definitely banana-ey!'

There you go. All done.

'Over to Dr Nicola to tell us what they found.'

He's broken both the bones in his forearm, basically.

'Wow! A double whammy.'

So these bones should be nice and straight

and all pointing in the same direction, but they're not.

They're bendy and they're snapped in the middle.

'That is one impressive X-ray.

'But what's even more impressive is how it looks in real life.'

And this arm goes "whooo", doesn't it? It's all bendy there.

'Now, the type of break Akrima has will require an operation to fix it,

'otherwise the bones won't set in a normal position.

'And we don't want him to have that banana arm for ever.'

They told me if I don't get it fixed

and it heals like this,

I won't be able to turn my hand and use my hand.

'Well, Akrima doesn't look too happy, but that operation means

'he'll have a fully functioning arm.

'We'll be back later to see how he gets on.

'This is our lab, where we're going to put our bodies to the test to

'show you how your body works.'

Ow! That really hurt!

'Just don't try anything you see here at home.

'Today, we're looking at our skin.

'The largest organ in our body,

'skin is one big protective barrier against the universe.

'It protects us from overheating by making us sweat,

'and protects us from the cold by creating goosebumps

'that trap a layer of warm air around us.

'But if you've ever spent too long in the bath, you'll have noticed

'something else about your skin.'

Wrinkly fingers.

Now, the reason that happens is because your skin is covered

in a protective layer of dead cells.

When these get wet, they can absorb water and swell.

Now, these dead cells are constantly being replaced.

'New cells are born all the time.

'They rise from the lower part of your skin to the top until they die.

'It's those dead cells that you can see on Xand's wrinkly fingers.

'But even though you go wrinkly in the bath, you don't keep soaking up

'water like a sponge, and that's because your skin

'is full of natural oils which repel the water away.

'Those oils aren't the only way your skin repels danger,

'as we're about to show you.'

This is liquid nitrogen.

'It's nearly minus 200 degrees Celsius, which makes it

'one of the coldest things on Earth and a very dangerous substance.'

My flowers!

'Ah, yes. Sorry, Xand. The liquid nitrogen is so cold

'that it's frozen the water in the flowers,

'so let's see what happens when Xand dips his hand into it.'

Did you not see what happened to the flowers?

But your hands aren't flowers.

That's true, actually. I should be able to do this,

although I haven't done it before.

'OK. Here goes!'

-Aw! It's amazing!

-Was that cold?

It stings, and you can feel it's very cold.

'So how come Xand's hand didn't crumble like the flowers?'

I'm warm at the moment, so my body's pumping hot blood to my hand.

And that hot blood boils the liquid nitrogen away from my skin

and prevents it from injuring me.

And you can see that on the back of my hand.

The big veins full are of hot blood and they'll protect me. Ready?

It DOES sting. It DOES sting but, you know, I'm OK.

'So the hot blood in my skin repels the liquid nitrogen

'away from my hand, stopping it from freezing.

So what we've seen is that your skin isn't just needed to

keep your insides in.

'It's an amazing organ which protects your body from the dangers

'of extreme heat or cold, making sure your body temperature remains

'constant and keeping you safe from harm.'

If you're in need of medical help fast...

..there are teams of paramedics near you, ready to assist.

'We're going on call with the UK's emergency services,

'heading into the thick of the action to help save lives.'

'Now it's Chris's turn on the front line.'

Paramedics who drive these are on call 24/7,

always ready for extreme medical emergencies.

'On call with me today is paramedic Ben White.

'We're in the rapid response vehicle and a new call has just come in.'

We've been called to a woman with abdominal pain, that's tummy pain.

There are an awful lot of different causes for tummy pain,

some of them very, very serious,

some of them not very serious at all.

So while Ben drives at high speed through traffic, we're also

trying to think about what some causes might be

and what we'll do when we get there.

'Thinking ahead like this means that we'll be ready to act quickly

'when we arrive.'

James has got his camera and I've got my camera,

so I can get you right to the heart of the action.

'When we get to the scene, our patient, Katie, is clearly

'upset from the pain in her tummy, and her mum is there to support her.

'Katie has had pain in her abdomen on and off for a while,

'so Ben begins a thorough examination.'

-Nothing. No.

-When did it get... when the did pain get this bad?

-Midday today.

-Midday today? OK.

You can have as much of that as you like. Just nice, deep breaths.

'Because Katie's in a lot of pain,

'Ben is giving her gas and air to make her more comfortable

'while he continues his examination.'

-Is the pain always in the same place when you get it?

-Yeah.

-Does it come on suddenly?

-It builds up.

'This device monitors the oxygen in Katie's blood

'and her heart rate, through the pulse in her finger.

'The pulse readings have been high, which isn't good,

'but the pain relief is bringing things back to normal now.'

Katie's pulse rate, as Ben says, has gone from 115...

It's about 140, initially.

-It's at 140?

-140 initially, when she came in.

-Right.

It's gone from 140, so very high, as high as if you went for a run,

now down to 105 to 110.

It's easing it a little bit. You seem a lot calmer now.

'Although Katie is already feeling more comfortable,

'Ben calls for an ambulance to take her to hospital

'for the treatment she needs.

'So the gas and air has worked and has numbed her pain.'

It's an amazing transformation.

When I arrived Katie was in tears in the hallway, unable to sit down

because if she moved, the pain was really, really intense.

And Ben came in, calmed her down, has given her the gas and air.

She's now sitting comfortably, her pulse has fallen enormously,

along with her blood pressure, and that's a really good sign.

'The ambulance team arrive to take Katie to hospital,

'where they'll be able to run more detailed tests

'and give her further treatment.'

So we turned up to find Kate, who's 25 years old, standing

in her hallway, in tears from pain from her problem.

And although Ben can't fix the problem here,

she's now on her way to a place where it can be fixed,

and he was able to deliver really, really good pain relief.

'And with our job done, we hit the road again,

'ready for the next call-out.

'It's thanks to paramedics like Ben, who can get to a scene fast,

'that means you'll never be more than a few minutes away

'from medical care.

'Still to come...

'We've got another body trick for you to fool your friends with...'

-That one.

-CHILDREN:

-Ohhh!

'..there's a burnt foot in Accident and Emergency...'

We can snip it and some of the juice will come out.

'..and Chris goes on duty to find out what causes THIS.

'That's nearly 5,500 times a year!'

'Wow, that's amazing! And so's this.

'This is just an ordinary town and looks like an ordinary

'restaurant, but this is no ordinary man.

'So what makes him so special?'

'Is he one of those people who can eat

'everything off the menu in one sitting?

'No, Chris, but the food has got something to do with it.

'In fact, this man is hiding an amazing body.

'Wait for it!'

HE BURPS

'Sorry, madam!'

'This is Paul Hunn, and he holds the world record for the loudest burp.'

HE BURPS

'He discovered this extraordinary talent when he was at school.'

I used to win all the competitions in the playground,

beat all the other kids.

When I broke the world record, I was so proud.

I just couldn't believe it! I didn't think that would come out of it.

'Now we all burp, and that's because when we eat and drink,

'we also swallow air, and it needs to come out.

'But Paul's burps are something else.'

HE BURPS

'So how does he make sure his burps are as impressive as

'they possibly can be?'

If I'm burping, if I'm going to do an appearance or a record attempt,

on the day, I make sure I don't eat so I can breathe more air in.

When the time comes, I just breathe more air in.

I let it settle at the bottom of my stomach.

As I feel it rise, I sort of open my throat and just let rip.

HE BURPS

'Paul's champion burps can reach up to 109 decibels.'

HE BURPS

'Just look at this decibel reader.

'That's as loud as a car horn or a motorbike.'

CAR HORN BEEPS

MOTORBIKE REVS

'Nice work, Paul. Now THAT'S amazing!

HE BURPS

HE BURPS

HE BURPS

You are never going to break the world record.

Now, remember our patient from earlier?

Let's head back to the emergency department

to see how they're getting along.

'Back in Manchester is 11-year-old Akrima with a badly broken arm.

'Akrima was in PE.

'It was gymnastics and, feeling like a pro,

'he took a run up towards a bench and jumped.

'Perfect! Landed on his feet. Beautiful!

'And then fell over and broke his arm. Really not good!

'The broken bones have changed the shape of Akrima's arm,

'and it's as bendy as a banana.

'Now it's time for his operation, where specialist surgeons will

'put his bones back in the right place.

'So banana arm, get ready to be de-banana-fied!'

Just some sleeping medicine now. What will you dream about?

Where's the nicest place you can sleep?

'France? The Caribbean?'

-Been to Blackpool?

-'Blackpool?! OK, Blackpool it is!

'As soon as Akrima drifts off into dreamland, the surgical

'team will be able to get to work. And there you go!

'He's off to the sandy shores of Blackpool.

'To prevent Akrima's bones from healing in the wrong shape,

'the surgeons need to move them by hand, back to where they should be.'

We just push this part of the forearm back straight up,

so that it lines up with this part of the forearm.

'Remember, he won't feel a thing,

'so on your marks, get set, and there you go!

'A blink of an eye and the bone is back in the correct position.

'Everything looks good, but to be sure, they do another X-ray.

'Oh, beautiful!

'Not a hint of banana there.

'Now they plaster his arm in a cast

'so that the bone stays in position to knit together.

'A couple of hours later, Akrima is wide awake,

'and the operation is a distant memory.

'Actually, it's barely a memory at all.'

I don't remember anything.

I only remember when I woke up.

'But it's good news.'

I don't have the banana arm any more. It's gone.

'You must be starving, Akrima. Fancy a banana?'

Every time I eat a banana, I'll try not to think about my arm.

'Maybe stick to apples and oranges for a bit. Bye!

'We know loads of amazing body tricks.

'This time, we're going to show you how to convince your friends

'you can read their minds using just an ordinary penny.'

So we're going to take this penny, and I'm going to give it to Xand.

And he's going to put it in one of his hands, OK?

I'm going to do this without looking.

Now, if I can guess which of his hands he's put it in, then

I get my penny back.

'Now, whilst I keep looking the other way,

'I want Xand to put the hand with the penny in it above his head.'

Just make your hands different.

You've just got to think really hard about the hand it's in

and send it to my brain.

I think I've got it. Put your hands together.

I'm going to guess which one it is.

-That one.

-CHILDREN:

-Ohh!

Who thinks they know how he's doing it? Nathan's as keen as mustard.

So, Nathan, come out here and tell everyone how you think it's working.

Well, I think it's working because

when you put your hand up into the air, your blood drains

out of your hands, so when you put it down, it looks whiter.

So Nathan's completely correct. If you put your hand in the air,

there are no veins in the back of that hand now.

Can you all see that? Look at this hand, all those veins.

-So put them together.

-Put them together. See all that?

-Yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

-That one's pale.

You can tell which hand your friend has just been holding up in the air

because the veins won't be sticking up as much.

That's because the blood has drained out of them.

So give it a try and home and see if you can trick your friends.

On Operation Ouch,

we've been hitting the hospital wards to show you what goes on.

Today, Chris is on duty in the allergy clinic.

Prawns, cheese and nuts. What do these three things have in common?

Well, obviously they're all best served dipped in chocolate.

Apart from the nuts. That would be disgusting!

But foods like this are also the main cause of a problem

that some of you may have.

I'm talking about food allergies.

An allergy can cause the body to react in extreme ways.

These pictures show some allergic reactions on the skin.

But what is an allergy and why does our body do this?

This is consultant Doctor Vibha Sharma, a specialist in allergies.

She'll tell us everything we need to know.

So Dr Sharma what is an allergy?

An allergic reaction is when somebody's been given something

that they do not agree with and their body reacts to it.

What happens when somebody gets an allergic reaction?

Those that are not severe will cause rashes, they might cause swelling.

A small proportion of people can have severe allergic reactions

and then they get very poorly.

This is Harun who has a suspected milk allergy.

When I have something with milk in it,

I get a bit itchy on my body.

And this is Hollie who has a suspected nut allergy.

So the last time I had peanuts was when I was 18 months old

and had an extremely big reaction to that.

They've both come into the clinic today for allergy testing.

We do this test that's called a challenge test.

The allergy challenge test means that Harun and Hollie will be

taking small bites of foods Dr Sharma thinks they are allergic to.

They'll both be monitored closely by the medical team just in case

they start to have an allergic reaction.

Hollie's trying chocolate with nuts in it.

She hasn't eaten nuts for 11 years so how's it going down?

I've just had my first bit and so far so good.

Harun's had one bit of pasta with milk in the sauce. How's he doing?

It feels, erm, like I'm getting a bit itchy.

Harun's itchy skin could be the sign of an allergy

but nothing major is showing yet.

Time for a second bite. Anything happening?

Second one now and I'm still all right.

In fact, after a few more bites of her dreaded food,

it's good news for Hollie.

I've had six pieces of chocolate with mixed nuts with no reaction.

They've confirmed to me that I'm not allergic to any nuts at all.

So it's thumbs up for Hollie.

As you grow older, it's possible to build up a tolerance to some

allergies so one down, one to go.

How's Harun getting on?

He's trying another spoonful and now an even bigger spoonful.

The doctors are building him up to a full meal to see his reaction.

-He's started itching a lot.

-A bit itchy there?

And this is definitely an allergic reaction.

When this happens, your body releases chemicals called histamines

and this is what makes you itch.

The more histamines, the more severe the reaction.

The histamines released not only make Harun itchy

but also cause little bumps on his skin, called hives.

These bumps are formed by fluid leaking from blood vessels in skin,

which means one thing.

I'm allergic to the milk in the pasta.

We know Haran's reactions have been really bad in the past.

He's had breathing difficulties which required a lot of treatment

but thankfully, on this occasion, he's got this rash that alerted us

so we're going to now stop the challenge.

He's had the medicine and we'll observe him for a little longer

to make sure that this reaction settles down

and that he's not going to develop any more symptoms.

So although the body can adapt and overcome food allergies,

the allergy challenge has confirmed

Harun's body is still sensitive to milk.

He'll need to avoid eating anything with milk in it

to make sure he doesn't have a nasty reaction in future.

In fact the answer is A.

There are 45 miles of nerves running through the skin on your body.

In the Accident and Emergency department,

the team are ready for their next case.

Let's meet her.

Hotfooting it into the hospital today is 14-year-old Kelsey

with a burnt foot.

It's like... I can't describe it, just stinging and throbbing.

Right, let's find out what happened here.

Kelsey was at home in the kitchen.

She was frying up some onions for her hot dog.

Ooh, lovely! Can I place my order?

Double cheeseburger with extra bacon, please.

Xand, she's making it for herself, not you!

Anyway, with the dog safely in the bun, all she needed was the onions.

She tipped the frying pan to add them to her delicious hot dog

but disaster struck!

Hot oil spilled out of the frying pan onto her foot. Ouch!

I tried scraping it all off with a towel.

The towel scraping didn't help matters,

but if you get a burn like Kelsey, the best thing you can do is bathe

the skin in cool or tepid water

for around half an hour after the injury.

But Professor Simon Carley comes to the rescue.

Hi, Kelsey, come and grab a seat.

-Poorly foot. What have you done?

-I burned it.

-How?

-On a frying pan.

Actually on the frying pan itself?

No, I had oil in it and it spilt on my foot.

-What were you cooking?

-Onions.

-Right, OK.

Just want to pop it up on here and we'll have a quick look

and see what we can see.

Can I take this off and have a look?

There it is.

All right. What did you do, for starters?

I tried wiping it off and it just went red

and the next day it built up.

This bit here has got two bits and this bit here is like sunburn

and this bit here has got the blister.

There's no sensation in it at all so we can take this off

and it won't hurt and then we can put a dressing on.

A blister is your body's own version of a plaster,

protecting the skin underneath.

The fluid inside Kelsey's blister contains antibodies along with

dead cells destroyed by the burn.

Just dead skin, this, so this little bit here doesn't really have

any sensation in so that's the bit we'll take off.

-Are you a watcher or a look-away-er?

-A look-away-er.

Now's the time to look away.

We can snip it and some of the juice will come out.

That's the juice that's been coming up from the burn.

Professor Simon's decided to cut this blister and drain the fluid

because it's on Kelsey's foot where it might get rubbed off

and become infected.

If it was elsewhere on the body, he may have left the blister alone

because when new skin grows in, blisters just fall off on their own.

So this is the burn that we can see here. This is nice and pink here.

It's taken off the top layer of skin.

It's burnt the top layer of skin away but you can see from that nice

pinkness that this is going to be healing very nicely, actually.

So the big issue for you is to keep it nice and clean,

free from infection.

Burns, especially hot oil burns, can be very serious

but Kelsey's had a lucky escape.

She's been lucky, definitely. It could have been worse.

-So was that as bad as you thought it was going to be?

-Not really, no.

Now the blister's been dealt with, Kelsey's foot is bandaged up

until it heals.

-And the moral of the story?

-No more cooking for me.

What, for the rest of your life?!

Maybe just take more care around hot oil. Bye!

On Operation Ouch,

we've been on a medical mission to show you how your body works.

Can you see my tonsils?

Yeah, it does look like poo. Certainly smells like poo.

Does this look all right to you?

We've had operations...

-The skin on the surface of the eye.

-I've got a big hole in my head.

-Wide as you can. That's it, brilliant.

-..experiments...

SPEAKS DEEPLY

I can't let go of it.

Tiny, put my brother down.

..investigations...

These are maggots. Can we get a nose pick as well?

It's a blood-sucking leech!

HE SCREAMS

..and we pushed ourselves to the limit...

Oh, yeah, pit of my stomach.

-What's it going to feel like?

-Chilly.

..to show you just how amazing your body really is.

It was a good game until I fell over.

-So look after yourself.

-And that brilliant body of yours.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd