Episode 8 Operation Ouch!

Operation Ouch!

He's Dr Chris.

And he's Dr Xand.

And yes, we're twins!

Do you know how brilliant your body really is?

My finger's got yellow pus in it.

Well, we're going to show you.

Yay!

In this series, we'll be pushing our bodies to their limits.

I like the sound of this!

By doing extraordinary experiments on each other.

This is my sick.

To uncover what goes on inside.

Uh!

And out.

Wow, that's amazing.

From the bizarre...

To the incredible.

So, now I'm seeing things.

It's time to find out what you're made of.

Chris? Chris! Chris!

Coming up...

On Operation Ouch!

Open wide as we see what it takes to straighten your teeth.

She's not very talkative.

Find out what me listening to music has to do with this.

And we're mixing up a treat to show you how your stomach works.

Looks disgusting!

Operation Ouch!

Each year, over 18 million incidents mean people end up

in Accident and Emergency.

Let's see how the team fix our first patient.

In Sheffield, eight-year-old Mason is in with what appears to be

a broken arm, but he's no stranger to broken bones.

I've broke one of my arms twice and the other once,

and I've broke both legs, so this is my fourth arm break now.

You might be thinking Mason must be the most accident-prone boy around,

but in fact, there's a good reason why he's broken so many bones.

I've got a bone problem called polyostotic fibrous... dysplasia.

It's a tongue twister, that.

Certainly is!

It means my bones can break really easily.

So, how did he manage to break his arm this time?

Well, Mason was on his way home from school.

He set off down the hill, as usual, minding his own business, as usual,

but he was distracted and didn't notice that the kerb

on the pavement was really high.

High like a mountain?

No, Xand, that would be ridiculous - it's a normal street.

Anyway, as I said, he was distracted and he went to step up,

he had a momentary lapse of concentration...

Whoa! I'm not surprised!

Did you just see what I just saw?

But before he knew it, he flew forward and landed smash

right on his elbow.

Ouch!

Now Mason's off to X-ray to find out exactly what's going on.

The bone condition Mason has is called fibrous dysplasia, and

it means that areas of his bones which should be hard are

actually soft, meaning they can break more easily.

And there's no denying Mason's got a bad break there.

Over to another Dr Chris, Dr Christopher Beaves.

Your X-ray shows you've got a fracture at the bottom

of your humerus, which is your long bone here.

What we need to do now is put a cast on it to hold your arm in that

position, and hopefully a lot less painful for you.

The cast will stop the broken bone moving, but Mason will need

an operation in the next few days to properly fix his arm.

Putting a cast on with such a bad break can be painful.

But don't worry, the nurse has got tricks up her sleeve.

So, we're going to give you some medicine, sweetheart,

-that you just have to squirt up your nose.

-Ngh!

After some painkillers squirted up his nose, there's some laughing gas!

And take some good breaths. Perfect.

As you breathe laughing gas in, it numbs the pain receptors in

your brain so that you can't feel a thing!

CHATTERING

Making things hurt a lot less and giving you a giggle along the way!

GIGGLING

And it's not called laughing gas for no reason.

LAUGHTER

It seems to be contagious and can turn you into a stand-up comedian -

or a lie-down one, anyway.

-What's a hedgehog's favourite food?

-What's a hedgehog's favourite food?

Prickled onions.

LAUGHTER

Prickled onions. Oh, dear, Mason!

But the show's over. And with the cast on, Mason can go home

until his operation.

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

And now to our lab.

Ah!

Where we do incredible experiments to show you how your body works.

So, watch this!

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

Now, this is a real stomach, but it's not my stomach.

Whose stomach is it?

Well, actually, it's a sheep's stomach,

but it's very similar to ours.

Now, your stomach is an amazing, shrinking, stretching,

-cleaning machine.

-That's right.

After you've eaten food, it goes down into your stomach, which then

mashes it up and cleans it to get rid of any bugs that might be there.

Another amazing thing your stomach can do is expand

according to the food you've eaten.

So, if you have a small snack then it'll stay small,

but if you eat a big meal then it'll get much bigger.

And we're going to show you just how much bigger it can get.

First, we're going to make a meal of fish fingers, chips and peas.

Yum!

Now we're going to mix it all up in the liquidiser, just like your

teeth mash up food when they chew it.

And there we go, a nice big jug of fish-finger smoothie.

Now we need to pour the mixture into the hole at the top, where the

food from your mouth goes down into your stomach.

We've closed up the hole at the bottom too.

This is where the food would leave your stomach to go into your

intestines to be absorbed.

And when you eat, you often, along with your food,

swallow some air and when your stomach squeezes, that air

gets forced back up your food pipe and comes out as a burp.

-XAND BURPS

-Sorry, Chris.

When you get wind at the other end, it's

because gas has been produced in your large intestine...

Don't even think about it - just keep pouring.

That has got much bigger, hasn't it?

Your stomach expands depending on how much you've eaten, but an

adult's stomach can actually swell up to ten times its own size.

But that's not all.

In your stomach you've got a very powerful acid.

It's so strong it kills bacteria and can even change some of your

food to make it more digestible!

You see, when you get hungry and your tummy rumbles, that's

your stomach producing the acid in preparation for the incoming food.

In your stomach are parietal cells and they make the acid.

So, we're going to show you right now how the acid works.

This is my sick.

It's a mixture of food and acid, so I'm going to sieve the food out

and we'll just be left with the acid.

-You love doing this, don't you?

-Yes, I do.

So, if I sieve out the chunky bits of food, I'm left with just my

stomach acid.

Then I'll add some of this acid to milk and watch what happens.

-If I stir that, can you see that?

-Urgh, that's disgusting!

So, the milk has gone chunky, and that's because the acid has

made the protein in the milk all clumped together.

It's called curdling.

It's what happens in your stomach every time you drink a milkshake.

Oh, I like milkshake!

Your stomach acid does this to milk to stop it flowing through

your body too quickly.

It needs to absorb all the proteins from those crumbly lumps.

So, this acid is clearly very strong stuff,

so why doesn't it dissolve our gut?

In your stomach you've got a layer of thick, protective mucus,

but the rest of your gut secretes a chemical called bicarbonate,

which neutralises the acid.

So, when you're having your tea tonight,

just remember how brilliant your stomach is.

Oh, tea! What are we having for tea?

Xand, you're always thinking of your stomach.

The living room! A very important part of the home.

There's a relaxing sofa you can put your bottom on.

There's a window you can... look through.

And a games console you can play your favourite games on!

But playing on a games console can lead to danger!

Argh!

You could accidentally poke someone in the eye with the controller!

Argh! Argh!

You could trip over a wire and fall in a strange position.

Wah! Ooh!

Or I could get over-excited thrashing Xand

and end up with a bout of severe hiccups.

Yay!

CHRIS HICCUPS XAND LAUGHS

It's not very likely, though!

-The hiccups?

-No, thrashing me! Right, game on!

FOOTBALL MATCH SOUNDS

He shoots! He scores! He celebrates!

Ow, a carpet burn! I've got a minor injury.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

So, how should you treat a carpet burn?

The answer is B.

So, if you get a carpet burn, run it under cold water for ten minutes.

There you go, much better. Want to play again?

Yes, but first...

Ha! Nothing will stop me this time!

So, if you get a carpet burn run it under cold water for at least

ten minutes, and if you're worried tell an adult.

Ouch!

We've got some incredible body tricks for you to show your friends.

Now, the next one might get you all feeling a little sleepy.

We're conducting a little experiment.

CLOCK TICKS

We're going to yawn...

Ah! And just look what happens.

That's one!

Two! She's trying not to.

Ah!

Oh, he's yawning again! Four.

Five.

Got you! Six, seven, eight! Triple whammy!

Are you yawning at home?

It's a yawn-a-rama! Is this boring?

Hands up if you yawned.

-CHILD:

-Me.

So when we yawned, they yawned.

Who thinks they've got a good explanation about why they yawned?

I think yawning is a contagious disease,

because when one person does it, another person does it,

then another person does it and it just keeps on going.

That's a good theory, Juliano.

We see someone looking tired and we think,

"I must be tired because they look tired."

Another good theory, Charlie.

So we've got all sorts of different explanations.

And the really disappointing thing is that scientists

and doctors don't know why we yawn. How about that?

XAND LAUGHS

You look really cheated like, "What? What?!"

Well, it's true!

The human body is an amazing thing, but sometimes doctors like us

just don't know why things happen.

Some experts think that yawning may have developed as a means of

communication, telling everyone that you're tired, just like

Charlie suggested.

Or some think that when you're bored or tired a big yawn will help

you take in more oxygen, keeping you alert and awake.

Whatever the reason, make sure you try this out on your mates.

But don't do it when you're in class - you might get in trouble.

XAND LAUGHS

Ouch!

Mason came in earlier with a broken arm.

Let's see how he's getting on.

Back in Accident and Emergency, eight-year-old Mason is

waiting for surgery on his broken arm.

He'd been walking home from school as usual when he went to step

up a big kerb.

But just as he lifted his leg, a momentary lapse of concentration

caused him to trip and he fell smack onto his elbow.

Got my gown on, so it means it shouldn't be too long

until we're going down to theatre.

And it's not long!

Mason has a general anaesthetic so that he won't feel a thing.

Over to surgeon Mr James Fernandes.

He's got a plan to put metal pins inside Mason's bone, that

will not only help the break heal but will also protect the

weak bone from breaking again.

So, with Mason fast asleep, it's time to get to work.

First things first, a hole is made near to Mason's elbow for the

first pin to go in.

The metal pins the surgeon is using are flexible, so they can be

pushed through the centre of the bone.

This might look painful, but Mason is totally unconscious and

can't feel anything.

The first pin is already in. Here comes number two!

With both pins in place, the ends are cut off and the surgeon

checks the elbow joint can still move normally.

A few stitches and the operation's all over.

But these pins will stay inside Mason's arm to keep the bone

strong in the future and, as he grows, they will expand too.

Once he's come round from the anaesthetic, Mason's off to

-pick his new cast.

-Blue, red or black?

As long as it's not pink or purple.

I was going to say, you don't mind I might put pink on!

Black it is, then!

It'll take around six weeks for Mason's bone to heal fully.

But, strapped up nicely and he's on his way home.

Nice work, Mason. Bye!

Still to come...

We're blinging it up with braces.

So, are you going to have the best braces in school?

Yeah.

This boy needs a hole fixing...

and we prove that the younger you are, the more you can hear.

Loser, loser, loser!

Did you know that an adult's teeth are longer than your teeth?

That's because as you get older, your gums shrink.

So, grab a grown-up and measure their teeth.

Ouch!

Your body can need mending in all sorts of ways.

SHE LAUGHS

And today, we're going to meet Yasmin and Ryan, who are both

having their teeth fixed.

If you've got all your adult teeth you should be able to

count 28 of them and that's it for the rest of your life,

except for a few sneaky wisdom teeth that might come through later on.

But often, when your adult teeth have come through,

they need a bit of help getting straight.

It's a dentist's job to make sure they're all in the right place

and that your teeth and jaw work correctly

and give you a winning smile.

So love 'em or hate 'em, dentists are here to help you!

Dentists can move the position of teeth with a brace, and

Yasmin here is having her braces fitted today and they're a

very cool fashion statement at Yasmin's school.

So, the other kids actually want to have braces?

They look like kind of cool and you can get different colours.

So, are you going to have the best braces in school?

Yeah.

Making Yasmin look cool today is consultant orthodontist Vikki Elton.

So, what's Yasmin going to have done?

Yasmin's already got a removable brace at the top of her mouth,

-which is moving her bite slightly.

-Yeah.

And today we're going to put a fixed brace on her bottom teeth.

At the moment, Yasmin's teeth don't bite together correctly.

The new brace will not only straighten her teeth, it'll

make her teeth fit together nicely when she bites and avoid her

getting jaw pain as she gets older.

So, it's time to fit the new brace!

First, Vikki glues the brackets onto which the wire will be attached.

-You all right there, Yasmin?

-Yeah.

-What's that?

-Yeah.

-She's not very talkative.

Right, that's all done so next we're going to get the wires in.

And it's the wires that pull all of the teeth into place.

Now Yasmin gets to personalise her brace by choosing some colours.

Please can I have light pink and teal?

Nice choice!

So, we're going to attach little elastics now.

Not only are these decorative, they are really important.

So, can you see that the little elastics are holding the wire

firmly into place in each bracket?

Yasmin, you've chose the perfect colours. You look great.

So that's Yasmin's new brace fitted.

In a few months her teeth will be straight and, most importantly,

she'll have a better bite.

-What does she think?

-I like it!

You did very well with that colour choice.

HE LAUGHS

So, your second set of teeth, or adult teeth, can come through

all higgledy-piggledy and need straightening out.

But occasionally doctors actually need to create space

so the teeth can come through in the right position,

and that means some teeth have to come out!

This is Ryan, and although it looks like he's got no front teeth

he's actually got two sets!

This is his X-ray.

Ryan's lost all his milk teeth and all his adult teeth are in

place, except for the front two.

See that gap? Now look above.

There are his adult front teeth!

But they're being blocked from growing down by two more teeth!

So, what are they going to do in the operation?

They're going to take the two teeth out from behind

so that the first ones can come through, and then after that

they're going to stitch the gum back up so it can heal.

So the two extra teeth are going to be removed.

-Will he put them under his pillow?

-Too old for it.

You're too old for it? I tell you what, give 'em to me

and I'll put them under my pillow and we can split the money.

BOTH CHUCKLE

And no, this isn't the tooth fairy, it's oral surgeon Mr Erik Andresen.

Ryan won't feel a thing during the surgery and that's his mouth

right there and both sets of teeth are in his gums.

There and there is where the teeth are going to come through.

It might look icky, but the surgeon needs to make room for Ryan's

adult teeth by removing the two extra teeth.

So, we're only a few minutes into the operation

but we can already see Ryan's adult teeth up there.

They're fully formed, they're just not in the right place.

Having his adult teeth in the right position will mean Ryan can

finally bite into hard foods like apples, but it will also mean

he's much less likely to get an infection.

If you're squeamish, look away.

But with his spare set removed, now Ryan has enough space for his

adult teeth to come through.

I actually saw your teeth being taken out

and I took a photo of the little teeth.

-Do you want to see it?

-Yeah.

-That is them there.

Is that what you thought they'd look like?

-No.

-Thought they'd be smaller?

-Yeah.

So remember, if you have to have your teeth worked on,

it's all for the good and you'll get an amazing smile.

I might keep hold of these.

The tooth fairy will be paying out tonight!

CASH REGISTER CHINGS

Ouch!

Your body is brilliant!

It can even repair itself if you get injured.

As this next boy will show you.

# If there's a bone to break he'll break it

# If there's a knee to graze he'll graze it

# If there's an ankle to sprain he'll sprain it... #

Argh!

# He's the unluckiest kid. #

New shoes that rub can make your skin red and sore and can

sometimes cause a blister, so what's going on?

Your blood vessels deliver a fluid called plasma to the top

layers of your skin.

This makes the area swell and a blister springs up.

It protects the scene from germs.

New cells make their way to the top, replacing damaged ones.

As new skin grows, the plasma fluid is reabsorbed back into the

body and your blister deflates, drying up until it disappears.

But to help prevent blisters, make sure there are no wrinkles in

your socks and your shoes fit properly.

Oh, dear!

# He's the unluckiest kid. #

IT'S TIME FOR INVESTIGATION OUCH!

Pardon?

IT'S TIME FOR INVESTIGATION OUCH!

Can you guess what this is?

Any ideas? Let's take a closer look.

Well, it's a real close-up of something inside your body.

It's the inside of your ear and those little orange brush

things are hairs that enable you to hear.

They're not normally orange, they've been coloured so you can see

them more clearly.

This is the bit of the ear you can see, the outer ear.

Sound vibrations come in this way before ending up in the inner ear.

Here, they push past little hairs on the cochlea, causing them to

move and this transmits sound information to the brain.

The louder the sound, the more the hairs bend.

We're always plugged into our MP3 players, aren't we?

Over 90% of us use them.

But what happens when we have the music up too loud or

we listen for too long? I'm about to find out.

This is Professor Chris Plack, head of research

in the audiology department - that's hearing -

at Manchester University.

So, how do we damage our cochlea?

Well, the hair cells inside the cochlea are very,

very delicate, so if you're listening to loud noise

then these can be blown around and disrupted.

That's why it's important to protect your ears.

But as you get older, the hairs naturally degrade and don't

work as well.

Take a look at this.

Remember those little hearing cells that looked like hairs?

Well, this is what they look like in a young person's cochlea.

Now compare it to an older person's cochlea.

See how some of the hairs look scraggy and some have fallen over?

This is natural damage that happens as you get older and it's why

you might have to speak a bit louder for your nan or grandad.

Now, sometimes older people don't hear as well as younger people.

Is that because of a lifetime of accumulated damage?

The ear contains something like a battery that helps the

hair cells convert the sound vibrations into electrical impulses,

and as you get older it becomes weaker and weaker

and so you can't transmit sounds as effectively to the brain.

Now, we're about to do a brilliant sound test that you may be

able to try out yourself.

But make sure your pets are out of the room, because they can be

very sensitive to high-frequency sounds.

Also, you may not hear some of the tones depending on what TV you have

and it may not work on some tablets or phones, but give it a go anyway.

I'm going to show you how hearing changes as you get older, and to do

this I'm going to need a very

technical piece of laboratory equipment.

This is Ocean and he's seven years old and I'm going to

go head-to-head with him to find out if my hearing is better than his.

It won't be.

Don't be so sure, young man!

Sound frequency is measured in hertz.

A low-frequency noise of around 400 hertz sounds like this...

LOW TONE

..and, as you increase the frequency, the sound gets higher.

This is 1,000 hertz...

HIGH TONE

Go higher still and eventually you can't hear it!

So, right now go and get a grown-up, especially one who's a bit older,

maybe your granny or grandad, and see if they can play along.

You're going to lose.

So, get ready for the first sound.

If you hear it, put your thumbs up.

HIGH TONE

Ocean can and so can I. Yay!

So, we can both hear a sound at

8,000 hertz.

Could you? Next.

HIGHER TONE

Ocean's good and me too.

A double tick.

That was pretty high.

How did you do at home?

Next!

There was no sound.

There was.

There was no sound.

There was! Didn't you hear anything?

Another thumbs up from Ocean but I can't hear a thing!

So, Ocean's one ahead.

Did you hear it?

If so, I can officially declare you are still a child!

Next!

I heard that.

No bother for Ocean, but thumbs down for me.

How did you get on?

Don't worry at home, grandad - you can always blame the telly.

Well, you only beat me by 4,000 hertz!

Still won!

Loser, loser, loser! How does that make you feel?

Makes me feel old!

So, the delicate hair cells in your cochlea enable your brain

to hear noises. And as you get older, some of them disappear,

making it harder to hear, but you can protect them.

So remember,

if you're going to listen to One Direction, do it at a safe level.

MUSIC OVER HEADPHONES: "Live While We're Young" by One Direction

Ouch!

In Accident and Emergency, the team are ready to fix our next patient!

Let's meet him!

In Manchester, seven-year-old Ryan is in hospital with a hole

in his head.

I was spinning around on my bike and I feel off it and whopped my head.

Holy moly, you did! So how on earth did this happen?

Ryan was on his bike, riding along.

Oh, dear, no helmet!

And his brother fancied a ride on it.

Can I have a go?

OK.

So, Ryan span his bike around with a nifty 360-degree turn!

Only as he was spinning, he fell off!

He went flying through the air and landed with the handlebar

smacking him square between the eyes!

Ouch!

GASPS AND SIREN BLARES

-Kind of hurts a bit.

-Just a bit? Crikey, you're brave!

Anyway, let's get that gaping gash seen to.

Enter Dr Jonathan Taylor.

How did you fall? Do you remember?

The handlebar, it didn't have no rubber on it and I whopped my head.

So has the end of the handlebar gone into your head?

-Ouch.

-That's what I said!

-Must have hurt a lot.

-It did.

Can you tell me if it's too sore?

Course not! This is one tough guy we've got here!

But because he wasn't wearing a helmet he's had a blow to the head.

Dr Jonathan needs to give Ryan a thorough check over.

Can I get you to do a few little things with your face?

Pull some funny faces for me, make sure you...

-DOCTOR LAUGHS

-..very good.

Hang on Ryan, the test hasn't started yet.

I just want to make sure that all his nerves in his face

are working fine, that he's not got any injuries to them.

-Can you feel me touching you there?

-Mm-hm.

Also, just making sure that he's sort of obeying commands and stuff

so he's not had a serious head injury.

Can I get you to screw your eyes tightly shut? Very good.

And open them very wide like that, like you're scared.

Very good!

Looks like he's had a lucky escape.

He's very brave in these situations when I've got to take him

to hospital. Always calm, cool...

He's been here before? He must be accident-prone!

Because this is quite near to your eyes, I think

we might need to put a little stitch in there.

To make sure Ryan doesn't feel any pain, Dr Nandini Sen arrives

to give him some laughing gas.

RYAN AND HIS DAD LAUGH

And just like Mason earlier, with Ryan giggling away, the doctors

can get to work.

First up, they give his wound a good clean.

And then they inject an anaesthetic to numb the area.

HE LAUGHS

And you're laughing! You're not meant to laugh!

And now the stitching can begin.

It only takes two stitches to close up Ryan's wound.

Did that hurt? No?

Even his cut's smiling!

And once he's checked out the doctor's handiwork, this

action hero is ready to go home.

Yeah, yeah, never mind the muscles, Ryan - on your bike.

Let's hope we don't see you back here soon.

Bye!

Next time on Operation Ouch! I meet someone who fakes wounds for

a living.

I'm hoping this is going to be the least painful burn I've ever had.

This boy's face needs fixing...

And we meet Dr Dog.

HE EXPELS AIR

Smells like doggie snacks.

Until then, that's all from...

Operation Ouch!

SIRENS BLARE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd