Episode 3 Operation Ouch!

'He's Dr Chris.

'He's Dr Xand...

'..and yes, we're identical twins.

'Do you know, your body does heaps of amazing things,

'every single day?'

That is incredible.

'..and we're going to show you how.'

Ah! You've cut him in half.

'We've got incredible experiments...'

-Ah!

-Wow...

'..and real life medical emergencies.'

There's a big chunk of my leg missing.

Ouch.

'We'll be turning our bodies inside out...'

Oh, yuck!

'..to show you what you're made of.'

-DR CHRIS FARTS

-You should see a doctor.

Better go find one.

DOCTOR Xand?

-Coming up today...

-..on Operation Ouch.

-Why do you always get to ride in the front?

-Shh.

'We find out what comes out when you cough.'

Oh, yuck!

'The Ouch And About Clinic solves your mystery ailments.'

Can I have the next patient, please?

'And I witness surgery to fit an amazing device.'

It's absolutely extraordinary to be holding one in my hand.

'But first...'

Medical teams always expect the unexpected.

And here's another surprising case.

'..at Alder Hey in Liverpool,

'five-year-old Aidan's got something stuck up his nose.'

'What's up there, Chris?

'It's something that looks exactly like this.'

It's a pirate coin.

It's off the treasure chest.

'Pirates? Treasure? I've got to see this.'

'Aidan was at home, playing with his Lego.

'What's he building, Chris?

'He can build anything he wants,

'from partying penguins

'to pillaging pirates, hunting for treasure.

'But today, he's building a car.

'Huh, nice wheels.

'Then he noticed one of his pirate coins

'had fallen out of its treasure chest.

'He was looking for somewhere safe to keep it,

'so he stuck it up his nose.

'Ouch!

'I wonder how they'll get it out.'

Sucking it.

'Did he say "sucking it"?'

-Yeah.

-Like a hoover.

Cos hoovers get all the dirt out of your house.

'Huh. Well, that's logical, Chris.'

'Here to help is...

We need to have a look up your nose, OK?

I can just see it. It's quite hard to see, actually.

I wonder if it's gone up.

'With the coin barely visible, Sister Catherine needs to take action.

'Arr, time for some treasure hunting!'

What we normally do is, we close off the nostril

that's not got it in

and you just do one sharp blow into his mouth.

'OK, Mum, your turn.'

You literally cover his mouth and just blow

and then come straight off, OK?

'One, two, three...

-'Something came out.'

-Let's have a look.

'But not the coin. Let's see that again.

'Oh, look, snot. Aidan loves it.'

You're not supposed to snot on Mummy, you know?

'Mum has one last go.'

Let's have a look, then, up that nose.

'Is there any sign of the missing treasure?'

It's very hard to see, Mum. I can't see anything.

So I don't think we can get that out at the minute.

'It just won't budge. What does Aidan think of that?'

Do I have stay here for ever?

No, you won't stay there for ever.

'Oh, we hope not.'

We've made an appointment for him to see the ENT doctors,

who have specialist equipment and will be able to remove it for him.

-They might have to chop your nose off.

-No, they won't.

'Will Aidan get his treasure back? Find out later.

-CHRIS AND XAND:

-'Arr!'

'Now, to the lab, for some amazing body experiments.'

-Urgh.

-Whoa!

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

DR CHRIS COUGHS

Now today, we're going to be looking at what happens...

DR CHRIS COUGHS ..when you cough.

Now, a cough is a reflex action that your body does

to get rid of something harmful or irritating,

which you've breathed in by mistake. Like icing sugar, for example.

Icing sugar? Why would I breathe in icing sugar?

We're in a lab, not a kitchen.

When I do bake, I always make savoury things like, you know,

the cheese twists with...

Agghh! DR CHRIS COUGHS

Water!

Now, we're going to show you Chris coughing

like you've never seen it before.

Now, this is a video of the inside of my head.

This was taken using a...

Now, the main difference between a cough and simply breathing out hard

is my favourite body part, your...

Its normal job is to stop food going into your lungs

when you swallow, but in a cough, it closes off the lungs

and allows pressure to build up in the lungs.

Xand, do the first part of a cough.

Now, Xand's closed his epiglottis,

the pressure's rising in his chest, so when he opens it...

DR XAND COUGHS ..the air rushes out at 60mph.

But if a cough's that powerful,

where does it go and what's in it?

Well, we're going to show you.

It's time for competitive...

DR CHRIS COUGHS ..coughing.

What is going on?

Well, I've made these cut-outs that look just like you and me.

They don't look anything like me.

They're all blue.

I'm the green twin - everything I wear is green.

It's greenish.

It's... It's... Does that look the same? It's turquoise!

-Doesn't look anything like...

-It's not relevant, Xand.

The point is, I've put plates full of a special scientific gunk

called "agar jelly" on the faces of our cut-outs.

So, if any bacteria happen to land on any of our plates,

they're going to multiply so much, we can actually see them.

OK, Chris, you ready? Three, two, one, cough.

BOTH COUGH

'We're doing two experiments, one where the places are 10cm away

'and another, where they're 50cm away.'

Well, all done.

Not quite, Chris. I want you to take this agar plate

and hold it in front of your face and I'm going to cough on it.

And this time, I'm going to cover my mouth with my elbow -

the way you're supposed to -

and hopefully, no germs should land on the plate.

OK. Well, just make sure you do it properly.

DR XAND COUGHS

And now, we have to wait.

'In lab conditions, bacteria takes some time to grow.

'Luckily, we came prepared for a long wait.

'And finally, the test results are in.'

So, let's check out the cut-outs

that were 50cm away first.

Oh, yuck!

This has worked really well.

All these bacteria have grown

into thick, furry, yucky blooms.

Urgh.

Well, let's have a look at mine.

Urgh!

They're even worse than Xand's.

Mine are also growing in horrible slimy, furry, green colonies -

and all this, from just one cough.

'Now, for the cut-outs that were only 10cm away.'

Oh! This is even worse.

There's loads of furry stuff in here.

Oh, that is disgusting.

Let's have a look at mine.

Urgh, there's a huge bacterial splat in the middle of the plate.

I must've coughed up a lot of saliva with that one.

So this is like coughing into someone's face

when they're right next to you, and that's bad news for them,

when you realise that the average cough has 20,000 viruses in it.

Which brings me to our last result.

Let's have a look at the plate where I covered my mouth

and coughed at Chris.

Urgh, two bacteria!

'I knew you hadn't covered your mouth properly.'

I think you can see though,

that this is a lot better than the other ones we did.

So, there you have it.

In case you were in any doubt

about whether or not to cover your mouth when you cough,

we've shown that not only could your cough

reach the person right next to you,

but it could travel a lot further than that.

Yuck. And as well as seeing how far they travel,

we've shown you just how much bacteria there can be in coughs.

Well, there's a lot more in yours than in mine, Chris.

You should see a doctor.

Maybe I should. Better go find one.

'Now, we're going Ouch And About, bringing our mobile clinic to you.

'We've come to a theme park, to help solve your medical mysteries.

'Xand is preparing the clinic, ready for his first patient.

'While Chris is out in the park, to answer your burning questions.

'At the clinic, Xand is open for business.'

Can I have the next patient, please?

'First up, it's not that duck... QUACK

'It's eight-year-old Thomas and he's had a mouthful of his problem.'

So, Thomas, why have you come to the Ouch Mobile today?

Well, I've hardly lost any of my milk teeth, but all my friends have.

'What's the diagnosis, Xand?'

It sounds to me like a case of...

'Excellent diagnosis.'

How many have you lost?

I've lost four and I've got one wobbly one.

Right, let's have a look.

Give that one a wobble for me.

Oh, that's brilliant, look at that.

Part of the explanation is that everyone's different, right?

You and your friends are all going to be different sizes,

you've all got different colour hair and there's lots of different

things about you and your teeth are one of those different things.

You're also all different ages - and in your case,

there isn't anything to worry about.

'Xand's right, Thomas. It's all good.'

'Now I'm Ouch And About, solving more medical mysteries.'

What causes hiccups?

Do you ever get a thing where your eyelid flickers a little bit

and you can't control it? Hiccups are a bit like that.

It's the muscle under your lungs, called your diaphragm.

When the diaphragm spasms... DR CHRIS HICCUPS

..you get that "hic".

Dr Chris, why do we get cracked lips in the winter?

It's cos in the summer, we sweat -

and so, we leak lots of grease out from our pores,

which keeps our skin nice and moist

and in the winter, that doesn't happen.

So when we lick our lips, we dry them out even more,

because we lick the grease off them.

And so, that's when they start flaking and peeling and cracking.

-Does that make sense?

-Yeah.

'Back at the Ouch Mobile,

'some fellow twins are in the waiting room...'

Next patient, please.

'..but their question is all to do with their differences.'

So Adia, Orchid, what's brought you to the Ouch Mobile?

I'm right-handed.

And I'm left-handed. I've got bigger feet.

And I got smaller feet.

I'm shorter and she's taller and we want to know why.

'Double trouble. What's the diagnosis, Doc?'

This sounds like a case of...

'Sounds twin-tastic.'

-Who's the older twin?

-I'm the older twin.

I'm the older twin actually, as well.

How much older are you?

I'm seven minutes older than Dr Chris.

-Ah.

-We're ten.

-I'm ten minutes older.

You're ten minutes? So you're taller, older, bigger feet?

-Yeah.

-This is quite interesting.

So when twins are developing inside their mum,

before they're born, there isn't as much room as there would be if there

was just one baby and one twin is usually a bit bigger than the other.

There's a bit of competition for nutrients.

So it looks like, Adia, you've just been the slightly larger twin.

Were you bigger when you were born?

I think, by one pound, or something.

By about a pound? I think that's probably the explanation,

if you've just always been the slightly larger twin.

'And the left-handed thing?'

Normally, in the population, people who aren't twins,

about one in ten people is left handed.

But in twins, it's actually one in five - so it's twice as common.

'But no-one's exactly sure why.'

Adia, Orchid, thanks very much for coming in.

It's really nice to have twins on the show.

'Job done for today. Clinic closed.'

'Still to come, we're on call with the paramedics.'

So, this is a real emergency.

We have to get there as soon as possible.

'These guys learn some essential first aid...'

You're just pouring it in the corner of her eye.

That's good.

'..and it's micro surgery time for Matthew.'

The tip of that drill is smaller than a grain of rice.

Earlier, Aidan came into accident and emergency

with a pirate coin lodged in his nose.

Arr! Gold doubloons, Spanish treasure,

-pieces of eight, hoards of...

-No. Xand, Xand, Xand -

-it was just one coin.

-Oh.

Let's find out what the doctors do next.

'Yes, in Liverpool, it's time for some treasure hunting,

'to retrieve that buried coin.

'It happened at home, when Aidan was playing with Lego.

'He can build anything, but today he's building a car.

'Huh, nice wheels.

'Then he noticed one of his pirate coins had fallen out of its chest.

'He was looking for somewhere safe to keep it,

'so he stuck it up his nose.

'Ouch!

'Today, Aidan's hoping to get the treasure out of his nose

'and back where it belongs.

'And here to help him do that is...'

-Does it still feel like it's up there?

-Yeah.

'OK. Time to dig for gold.

'This might look uncomfortable,

'but it's important it comes out, to prevent infection.'

So it's coming. We just need to have one more go.

You're being really brave.

'So, one last go.'

Ah, there it is!

'Shiver me timbers, it's out!'

'Ew, it's all covered in snot, Chris!

'Of course it is. It's been up his nose.'

Yeah, everything's all gone. Well done.

'But we're not done yet.'

I'm going to wash it.

'Add some water, give it a rub and it's as good as new.

'In it goes.

-CHRIS AND XAND:

-'Arr, well done, Aidan!

'Bye!'

All over the UK, there are emergency teams standing by, ready to help you.

And they need to get to the scene of an accident, fast.

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

'showing you what it's really like on the front line, saving lives.'

The West Midlands Ambulance Service is on standby,

all day, every day, to respond to emergencies.

I'm hitching a ride in this rapid-response vehicle,

so you get to see up close what it's like to be first on the scene.

'If you have an accident,

'this fast medical service is ready to help, 24 hours a day.'

I've got my camera. Eric's in the back with his camera.

We're going to get you as close to the action as we can.

'On call with me, it's...

'This service takes thousands of 999 calls

'and a new case is just in.'

We've been called to someone who's choking.

Now, if they're really choking, they won't be able to breathe,

so this is a real emergency.

We have to get there as soon as possible.

The screen tells us they're older than 16

and they've got a carrot stuck in their throat.

That's all we know, but that's enough.

'A fast response can save lives

'and paramedics like Jan are often first on the scene.'

'It's only taken about five minutes to get here, to see James.'

How are you feeling, James?

I'd be feeling much better

if I could get rid of this carrot out my throat.

'He's not choking, but he can't swallow -

'and as James is diabetic,

'this could be really dangerous,

'because if he can't eat, his blood sugars are going to be affected

'and that can be life-threatening.'

So, poor James has got a bit of carrot stuck in his oesophagus -

that's the tube going from your mouth to your stomach.

It's causing him real problems now.

'Because he's not able to swallow, his blood sugar is getting low.'

2.5.

'He's in real need of something sweet.'

Right, what I'm going to get you now is that sugary gel,

just to see if we can get your sugar levels up a little bit, OK?

It should just absorb through your skin in your mouth,

so you don't have to swallow it.

Yeah, it's gone.

'And now that's done, what about that carrot?'

He'll need to go to hospital and have it surgically removed.

It's not a big operation.

It just involves putting a tube down his throat

and removing the blockage, while he's been sedated.

'Jan's job done, it's now safe

'to transport James to hospital by ambulance.'

Bye, James. Take care.

So that's a really good result for James.

It'll be quite easy to get that blockage

out of his throat in hospital.

But if it hadn't been done and Jan hadn't been here,

his blood sugars would've got dangerously low

and he'd have been in real trouble.

But he's not, thanks to the paramedics.

'And if you ever have an emergency,

'there are hundreds of similar crews around the country, ready to help.

'Did you know that...

'Wow! You'd better look after them, then.'

Now, nothing beats a good party,

but some people, when they're getting ready,

can get a bit over-excited.

People like Xand.

Now, there's nothing wrong with getting in the mood,

but if you're not careful, you might expose yourself to danger.

Whoo!

'You could accidentally slip in the bathroom...

'Burn yourself with straighteners...

'Or even strain your voice, practising karaoke...'

# Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh... #

-Xand? Xand!

-Oh.

You need to save your energy.

You're not going to have any left for the party.

Right, a few final checks for me.

Collar straight, hair smart

and a final squirt of aftershave.

Ah! Ah!

Right into his own eye.

# Looks like an injury alert! #

What do you think, Hanny?

I think "C", because, say if you got perfume in it, just wash it out.

'Hanny's got it.

'The answer is "C"...

'..and here's how.'

Right, let's get you sat down.

We're going to get clean water and just wash his eye out with it.

So what I'm going to do is put my thumb above his eye,

my finger below and then I can hold his eye gently open

and that means the water actually gets in

and washes the stuff out of his eye.

We're going to start pouring the water into the corner of his eye,

beside his nose.

-Urgh.

-That's good.

'Now remember, we're showing you what to do in an emergency.

'Never do this on your own, unless it is an emergency

'and always try and find an adult.'

Keep blinking. All fixed.

So do any of you want to try this yourselves?

-ALL:

-Yes!

Oh, I have something on my eye!

Oh, my eye really stings! Ah!

-OK, so what are we going to do, guys?

-We'll sit you down here.

Sit down, cos she can't see.

'Nice one, Beau.'

Just confidently hold her eye open with your thumb and finger there.

That's really good.

You're just pouring it in the corner of her eye, right there,

so it all washes sideways. That's good.

'It's important to have a good aim.'

Did you get it in the eye?

I think that went on the eyelid.

Pour the water right on the eyeball... Oh, good job.

That was better.

'So remember, sit the patient down,

'gently hold open the eye

'and pour the water right onto the eyeball -

'and always try and find an adult.'

How's your eye feeling, Chris?

Much better. Thank you, Xand.

Right, let's get ready to party!

'Your body is amazing, but sometimes, it needs fixing.

'All over the UK, there are special teams of professionals

'trained to tackle medical mysteries.

'And sometimes, their work is life-changing.'

TRAFFIC NOISE

Now the world is a noisy place,

but what happens if I switch it all off?

TRAFFIC GOES SILENT

Now, if you're deaf, you have several ways of understanding

what other people are saying. There's lip reading...

..and there's sign language,

which relies on hand gestures.

And for loads of deaf people, these things work really well.

But doctors are making amazing medical advances

in improving people's hearing.

'This is Matthew. He's 12.

'He's deaf and uses BSL - British Sign Language - to communicate.

'I'm not very good at it, so Matthew has brought along his interpreter.'

How long have you been deaf for?

-Since 2001.

-So, your whole life?

Yeah. Yeah, I was born deaf.

'Matthew's here to get a cochlea implant,

'a tiny little device that replaces a bit of the ear,

'which, in some deaf people, doesn't work.

'Sound travels in waves through your ear to the cochlea.

'Inside the cochlea, tiny hairs pick up the vibrations from these

'sound waves and convert them into signals, that are sent to the brain.

'Matthew is deaf, because the hairs in his cochlea can't do this.

'But the implant sorts this

'by sending sound signals through wires, instead.'

I've never seen this operation before,

so I'm very excited.

Good luck.

'Leading the team today is...

'Now, this surgery is not for the squeamish.'

Now, this is a cochlea implant,

which is what Matthew's having fitted.

This bit is a microphone.

It hooks over his ears

and it's what hears what's going on in the world around him.

And it attaches with a magnet through the skin to this bit -

and this bit sits under the skin

and it's these little wires that go into his cochlea

and send the electric impulses into his brain.

That's what allows him to hear.

It's absolutely extraordinary to be holding one in my hands.

So what James is doing now is

lifting the skin off the back of Matthew's skull

to make a little pocket, where the device can sit.

'The surgeon uses a microscope,

'which allows him to work in very small spaces

'and use a tiny drill.'

So, on the big screen, you can see it really well.

But in fact, in real life,

the tip of that drill is about this big.

It's smaller than a grain of rice.

'Having drilled through to the inner ear,

'we can now see the opening that leads into the cochlea itself.

'Next is the tricky bit.

'The wires from the implant need to go through the tiny opening

'and straight into the cochlea.

'Luckily, James has a very steady hand.'

The operation's basically over.

They're just sewing up the cuts behind Matthew's ears.

But we won't be turning on those cochlea implants yet.

'Matthew has to wait a couple of weeks for everything to heal.

'Matthew's back with Mum and Dad and interpreter Mark

'to have the cochlea implants turned on

'and he can't wait.'

We're going to do a little bit of testing.

When you hear a beep,

we just want you to put one of the fish here into the pot.

'Will Matthew's implant enable him to hear?

'Will he get any fish in the pot?'

BEEP

-Wow.

-Good. Well done.

'He caught that and it's put a big grin on his face.'

BEEPING

'He's hearing lots of beeps

'and then Matthew hears something he's never heard before.'

Matthew.

Matthew.

Was that you, Dad?

Yeah, it was really nice. I shut my eyes and my father said my name.

I knew something was being said, so when I opened my eyes, I checked -

"Did you just say my name, Matthew?"

-He just said, "Yes."

-Well done, Matthew.

So, Matthew is going to be hearing more sounds than ever before

and all because of this,

his cochlea implant.

Some sounds he's going to be hearing for the very first time.

It's absolutely incredible.

Our next patient's day was turned upside down

when a bizarre accident occurred.

Let's meet them.

'In Manchester accident and emergency,

'seven-year-old Yinka's in with her dad and little brother.

'Nice boots, little bro.

'So, what's the problem?'

I fell down and I banged my forehead.

'How did you do that, Yinka?

'Let's find out.

'Yinka's dad fancies himself as a bit of a chef.

'Is he a celebrity chef, Chris?

'In his dreams.

'Today, Yinka, her dad and little brother went to the shop

'to buy some tasty ingredients.

'Ooh, I love food shopping.

'Ooh - little bro's keen.

'But not as keen as those eggs.

-'EGGScellent.

-Next, some sausages...

'Succulent, yum.

'And some... Hey, what's that rumbling?

'Is it an earthquake?

'No. I think that's super bro's tummy.

'All this food is making him hungry.

'I know how he feels.

'Anyway, Dad, Yinka and super bro were on their way out of the shop

'when all of a sudden, Yinka tripped

'and bumped her bonce on the step.

-'Ouch.

-AMBULANCE SIREN

Hopefully, when the doctor is finished with us,

we'll go back and we'll finish up with our special breakfast.

'And Dad still wants to make brekkie. I like it.

'Here to help with that is...'

So, how did you fall over?

I missed my foot.

You missed your foot? Right, OK then.

'First, the doctor has to make sure

'Yinka hasn't suffered any serious damage to her head in the fall.'

Did she lose consciousness at all, Dad? Was she knocked out?

-No.

-No? OK. No bleeding from the nose? No bleeding from the ears?

Nothing like that?

-No funny clear fluid from the nose or anything?

-No.

-OK.

'Now the doc has a look at her bump.'

It's not too deep,

so it doesn't look like it's going to need to be

pulled together by any stitches, or anything like that.

'That's good news.

'Now, the doc needs to check for concussion.

'Inside your skull, your brain is made up of soft tissue,

'cushioned by blood and spinal fluid.

'If your head hits something very hard,

'your brain suddenly shifts inside your skull

'and can knock against the skull's bony surface.

'When the brain moves about like this,

'it can cause temporary brain injury called "concussion".

'So the doc does some quick tests...'

Just follow my finger with your eyes.

Can you just have a look over there?

'..and Yinka has no signs of any problems.

'So, what's the verdict, Doc?'

She's well now and this is just going to heal up by itself. OK?

'Result.'

She was super brave.

Hopefully, she gets home to have her special breakfast

that Dad's going to cook for her.

'Now you're talking. Can I come?

-CHRIS AND XAND:

-'Bye!'

'Next time on Operation Ouch...

'We find out how you taste with your nose...'

The smell molecules have stuck next to the olfactory receptors.

'Kardisha gets some sudden news...'

I think this is going to need for us to do a small operation.

'..and we check out a very special printer.'

One of the most amazing things it can do

is print replacement body parts.

We'll see you next time, for more...

-BOTH:

-Operation Ouch.

What do you call a pony with a cough?

I don't know.

A little horse!

Right, let's get ready to party!