Episode 4 Operation Ouch!

-I'm Dr Chris.

-And I'm Dr Xand.

-We're identical twins.

-Twins!

Do you know, your body does loads of amazing things every day

without you even realising it? Now, come and have a look at this.

And we're going to show you how.

Smell my armpits!

-We've got gobsmacking experiments...

-Wow!

..mind-bending body tricks...

..and real medical mysteries.

I got hit with a wooden cricket bat.

So, are you ready to see what you're made of?

-Coming up today on

-BOTH: Operation Ouch!...

So, that's where you are! Have you been in there all along?

We show you the Ouch poo factory.

We have made the perfect poo.

What's going on in today's Mindbenders?

It's us!

And Xand deals with dizziness.

HE LAUGHS

But, first...

..we're giving you exclusive access to an

accident and emergency department.

Let's meet our first patient.

In Sheffield Accident and Emergency,

seven-year-old Logan's all bandaged up.

What happened, Logan?

-I broke my arm.

-Oh. How did you do that?

Playing football.

Playing football? Let's see exactly what happened.

Logan was at football camp learning new skills.

He can dribble, head the ball and score goals,

just like Lionel Messi.

Then it was penalties and Logan's turn in goal.

He save it. Brilliant!

-Up steps the second player.

-Logan saves again.

-But why's he holding his arm, Chris?

-Let's look at that again.

The ball came rocketing in. Logan saved bravely,

-but look at his wrist.

-It's bent right back.

-Ouch!

Here to save the day is top doctor, Reddy Ilavala.

Hi, Logan. Are you all right?

First, he needs to check Logan's injury.

-Ow.

-Ooh, bit sore there.

It's very important that there's a good blood supply to the

tips of Logan's fingers.

OK, just touch your thumb. Is that OK? Can you feel it?

If he's got any numbness or pins and needles,

then we need to manipulate, like, straightaway -

in the emergency department.

Once he's happy that Logan's hand has a good blood supply

and is not numb, Dr Ilavala

sends him off for some X-ray pictures that will

reveal the damage.

First one, then two x-rays.

Another satisfied customer.

With the x-rays all done, what's Dr Ilavala's verdict?

It's broken in two places and it's also gone backwards as well.

Ooh, double ouch!

Time to, uh, break the news...

Xand!

It definitely needs to be, you know, manipulated into place

and they might have to put some wires and things like that as well.

So, Logan has to have an operation to fix his broken arm.

But, first, it's put in a temporary splints to keep him comfy.

All done. Logan's moved to another ward, where he'll spend the night.

Find out later how he gets on.

-Ready to see some amazing experiments?

-Yes! A triumph!

It can get a bit gross, but we're going to show you

how your incredible body works.

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

Today, we're looking at diarrhoea.

Chris, you haven't seen my diarrhoea sample anywhere, have you?

I can't find it anywhere.

Oh, here it is.

Now, let's get on with today's experiment, shall we?

Have you got your sample?

Well, that isn't very runny!

I thought we agreed on diarrhoea.

Look, I just thought it might be better to compare a normal

solid poo with a runny one.

Now, everyone gets diarrhoea from time to time

and one of the most common reasons is if you get a tummy bug

and the result is that your body ejects

the contents of your digestive system as quickly as possible.

Now, as you can see, Chris's plain, solid poo

looks completely different to mine.

But that isn't the only difference. One of these poos weighs more.

So, which of them do you think weighs more?

Chris's solid poo or Xand's runny poo?

As you can see, my diarrhoea poo is a lot heavier

than Chris's normal poo, but why?

Why is diarrhoea heavier and runnier than normal poo?

Well, we're going to show you.

Oh, Xand, welcome to my poo factory.

Wow!

Wait a minute, are these my ballet tights?!

Yes, I'm just using them as part of the poo factory,

and they are proving to be very, very effective fake intestines,

but don't worry, don't worry, you can have them back later.

First up, let's make a solid poo.

Get the masher.

And mash.

This bowl is like the inside of your mouth, chewing up the food.

To help mash it up, your body adds saliva,

enzymes, and it's all washed down with a drink.

OK, Xand, I think that's enough.

It's time to move it from the mouth to the intestines.

This is like you swallowing.

Nice work. Once the mashed up food his your intestines,

the muscular walls of your gut push

the food along and squeeze out all the goodness.

So, you can see this rich liquid full of all the nutrients

and the water is coming out of the guts and going into the body,

which is these metal trays.

And what's left is the indigestible stuff that's going to

become your poo. Well, Xand, I think it's time to poo.

There you go.

Much, much more solid than it was at the beginning.

Nice, dry, well-formed poo.

We have made the perfect poo.

And look how much water is in the tray.

Our fake intestines managed to get almost all the water out of our poo.

This water, full of nutrients, gets reabsorbed back into the body

and delivered to where it's needed.

So, if that's what happens to make a normal poo, what happens

when you make diarrhoea?

Well, it all starts in the same way.

Right, Xand, put the food in the mouth and start chewing.

Just as before, we add the same food and mixture but, this time,

our poor intestines are dealing with a tummy bug. Time to swallow.

So, now, something different happens.

The tummy bug makes your guts draw in extra water

from your body, pushing everything through your system superfast.

What I've got here is a high-pressure hose

and I'm going to use this to demonstrate what happens

when your guts draw in water from your body. Chris, are you ready?

I am ready.

Three, two, one. Go!

Here it comes.

Oohh, that's good, Xand, that's good.

Oh...look at that.

That is amazing, Xand.

Ooh, that's enough.

Xander's turned my perfect poo factory

into the world's first diarrhoea machine.

So, we've shown you that diarrhoea is heavier

and runnier than normal poo because your intestines don't get the chance

to do their job and all the water that should have been absorbed,

like the normal poo, ends up in the toilet.

And you can see that in our trays. There's almost no water

in our trays at all with the diarrhoea.

And that's why it's also a good idea to drink plenty of water,

or rehydration drinks, when you have diarrhoea.

Because they replace the nutrients and water your body has lost.

Speaking of drinks, all this experimentation

is making me thirsty.

Chris, I'm not sure you want to be drinking that.

-That's my backup diarrhoea sample.

-Eurgh!

We're on call with the UK Emergency Services,

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

On call with me is paramedic Jan Vann.

This is a rapid response vehicle,

and it's on standby 24/7 to

respond to whatever emergency call's coming in.

Today I'm going along for the ride - and guess what?

You're coming with me.

Jan can take ten to 15 emergency callouts in a day.

And a new case is just in.

We've been called to a 78-year-old man.

Apparently his jumper has caught fire.

Now, I don't know if he's put the fire out but it sounds as if

he's got badly burned so we need to get there quickly.

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

So you're going to see whatever we see.

Within minutes,

we arrive at the scene and Jan is checking on the patient.

How's your breathing feel? Is it just painful to breathe?

-Not really, no.

-No? OK. Is it just pain that's the problem?

-It's burning round this area, both sides.

-OK.

John was in the kitchen, cooking,

and a flame set the back of his jumper alight.

Luckily for John, his wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Laura, who's a nurse,

were on hand to extinguish the flames with a damp tea towel.

That's what's left of John's shirt, so it's been quite a bad fire.

So, John has burned quite a large area on his back.

His family have done a really good job of getting it cool

and keeping it clean with some clingfilm.

Jan gets a cold dressing on John to keep the burn cool.

-I think it's making me shiver more.

-Yeah, it will do.

But, at the same time, he needs to be kept warm.

He's very brave.

Jan decides to give John a painkiller.

The ambulance has just arrived. We are going to get you in.

All right, chap. A couple of bumps.

There is a lot of amazing people here.

Jan, of course, does an incredible job.

But also, Cynthia and Laura, John's wife and daughter,

really looked after him well

and the ambulance crew are getting him to hospital.

It's a whole team effort

and it's going to get him a really good result.

Still to come...

We go undercover.

Just walk sideways, like I am. Just like that.

Xand gets his skates on...

Now, my problem is that I'm already dizzy!

And our Ouch-mobile clinic is open for business.

Next patient, please!

Back in accident and emergency,

Logan is ready for surgery on his arm.

Well, let's see him get fixed!

All right.

In accident and emergency, seven-year-old Logan

is on his way to surgery after breaking his arm playing football.

Logan was at football camp learning new skills.

He was in goal and he saved the first penalty.

And the second.

But the ball bent back his arm and broke it.

Here to sort it all out, surgeons...

Logan has been put under general anaesthetic

so he won't feel any pain during the operation.

First, Logan's arm gets a good clean before the surgeon starts

fixing the broken bones.

Mr Varghese then manipulates the bones and moves them

back into their correct position.

We have to bend it a bit more to make it a bit straighter.

Almost there. A few more tweaks and, bingo!

The bones in Logan's arm are nice and straight.

Now Mr Varghese needs to make sure the bones don't wobble about.

He inserts two strong wires into Logan's bones which will be

removed once it has healed.

It may look painful, but Logan is under anaesthetic

and he can't feel a thing.

After a final check on the X-ray plus a new cast,

Logan is good to go.

A few hours later and he is up and about.

And looking pretty cool in his new sling.

DR XAND AND DR CHRIS: Bye!

-'Now, we're going to mess with your minds...'

-It's weird.

..scramble your senses and baffle your brain,

in...

This is Anywheresville, UK and two ordinary workmen are going about

their business fixing the pavement.

It's us.

Today, we're testing the theory that people will do pretty much anything

that someone in authority tells them to do.

And it works even better if you're wearing a uniform.

So we're dressed like this.

We've got a fake building site and loads of hidden cameras.

So I've got a hidden camera in my glasses...

I've got a hidden camera in my clip,

and that lady over there has got a hidden camera in that black bag.

-Right, Xand let's get back to work.

-OK.

Will people really do as they're told, no matter how silly?

If you guys are going to come through, can you turn sideways?

Yeah. Like this.

And then when you walk through, just go like that.

Just like that. OK?

Just walk sideways, like I am.

Just like that. Just sideways like that, cos of the wet cement.

-Just go sideways.

-OK.

Thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Thank you. Just go sideways, like that. Thank you. Perfect.

Once you're through that's great. Sideways. And look at the concrete.

You're doing such a good job.

Great, now walk backwards.

That is ideal. Sir, if you are coming through, just go sideways.

Just go sideways, like that.

Thanks very much.

There, you're good now.

So what reason did people have for doing exactly what we told them?

They looked like they were builders,

so we trusted them and did what they said.

If someone was dressed normally, I wouldn't listen to them

but if you're dressed like you're in authority, I listen.

I walked sideways, like they asked and I thought,

I look a bit silly doing that!

Yeah, I just done it because...

-To be nice, I suppose!

-Yeah.

We obviously thought, because it was a man in uniform,

we thought we was obliged to follow his orders.

-I thought it was a bit weird, but I did it anyway!

-Yeah!

When people are asked to do something by a stranger,

even if they don't want to do it, they'll often do it,

either out of fear of getting into trouble or to please the stranger.

-Right, Chris, shall we get packed up and go?

-Yeah, let's go.

Hold on, Xand. As you go past the concrete,

I want you to turn backwards and then hop on one leg.

If you say so.

We are at a theme park to solve your medical mysteries.

Chris is preparing the Ouch-mobile for his first patient.

And Xand is out in the park to answer your burning questions.

That's amazing!

-Next patient, please.

-Hello, Dr Chris.

First in is 12-year-old Arthur who wants his scalp seen.

Arthur, what's brought you to the Ouch-mobile today?

I have some dry, flaky patches of skin on my scalp and over my body.

What's the diagnosis, Doc?

So this sounds like a classic case of...

Couldn't have put it better myself.

OK, Arthur. Do you want to open up the eyelid?

Now, lean forward.

So you have got this flaky skin there and then

some of the flakes of skin are actually in your hair.

So Arthur has got this really common condition called psoriasis.

Psoriasis is where your body makes too many skin cells

at particular points, which is why they start flaking off.

How does psoriasis come about?

So it is a little bit genetic,

-so you get it a bit from your mum and dad...

-Yes.

..but it's partly with to do with your body having an increased

amount of inflammation at those sites.

So you get too many skin cells, which is

-why you have to brush them off and moisturise.

-OK.

Arthur, thanks very much

for bringing in your psoriasis to see me.

I'm out and about. Let's see if anyone has got any questions for me.

Why is a verruca so infectious?

-Verrucas are designed to be infectious.

-That's right, Xand.

Viruses want to spread and take over the world.

They get on your feet and then they kill the cells in your feet

and get them to spread bits of virus over the floor

and other people get them on their feet.

They ride around in swimming pools, changing room floors,

things like that.

So if you've got a verruca, cover your foot

when you go to the swimming pool.

And if you haven't got a verruca, make sure you keep your feet clean.

Chris is back at the Ouch-mobile.

Next patient, please.

Next into the clinic is nine-year-old Jessica.

So, Jessica, what brings you to the Ouch-mobile today?

Well, my joints are very floppy and I've got pseudoachondroplasia.

What the diagnosis, Doc?

This sounds like a classic case of...

'Easy for you to say!'

So let's have a look. Do you want to open the eye?

I'll give you a hand.

So can you show us on the Ouch-cam, your floppy joints?

Oh, wow! OK, yeah, so they are very floppy, aren't they?

-I can bend my hand back to my wrist.

-Right back! Wow!

So you said you've got this thing called pseudoachondroplasia.

-Yes.

-So can you show us what are the other things that go with that?

I'm shorter than all my friends.

If I stand next to you, that will be very obvious, won't it?

Because you're about half my height.

-And most nine-year-olds would be taller, wouldn't they?

-Yeah.

OK, so pseudoachondroplasia is a medical condition

that makes you short.

Because your bones don't grow properly.

And that's because there is a problem with

one of the genes for this protein called collagen.

Collagen is in your joints and it makes your ears,

it makes all the soft, gristly bits of your body.

-What makes my joints bend back really far?

-I think it's because,

the way the collagen is produced actually kills

some of the bone cells while they would normally be growing.

So all of that makes your joints more flexible.

-Is there anything cool about having pseudoachondroplasia?

-Well,

when I was younger, me and my friends like to play hide and seek,

so I could always hide in smaller places.

So you can win hide and seek because you can get into the smallest place?

-Yes.

-OK, so Jessica, thank you very much for coming in

-with your pseudoachondroplasia.

-Thank you very much, Dr Chris.

That was a real pleasure.

Job done for today.

-Xand, what on Earth are you doing?

-Oh, Chris.

I'm about to meet two ice skaters from CBBC's Ice Stars.

-And I'm trying to figure out how they do their amazing spins.

-Whoa!

-You're not going to wear that, are you?

-Of course I am!

It was very expensive. Don't you like it?

No, I do, I like it very much.

I just think you don't want to embarrass the skaters

because they might not have any clothing that's quite so... so...

-Sparkly.

-Sparkly, exactly. Yes.

-That would be bad, to embarrass them.

I'll go and change.

Well, that saved him from embarrassing both of us.

Time for "Investigation Ouch!".

Meet Kloe and Alexia.

They star in CBBC's Ice Stars.

They can spin on the ice at incredible speeds without

getting dizzy and falling over.

Do you want to have a go at spinning, Xand?

I thought you'd never ask!

-Hang on, I'm going to come to the side of you.

-Bend.

-OK, so bend.

-And then...

-Yeah?

-Kind of rotate yourself and then pull in.

-Now, my problem is that I'm already dizzy!

-Really?

And then you've got to skate off and keep going... I couldn't...

Maybe a little more practice will help me out.

Yes, yes, I've got him!

I'd better leave this to the professionals.

So, when you're doing your spins,

how many times do you think you go around?

-Maybe about 25?

-..Ish, yeah. Maybe more.

-25 complete turns around.

-Yeah.

And at the end of that, do you feel dizzy at all?

We don't really have time to be dizzy, I don't think so.

Now, I know you thought I was brilliant,

but I can't compete with Alexia and Kloe on the ice.

So I've got a little experiment to see how we all deal with dizziness

on the safety of dry land.

-Right, you ready?

-Ready.

We are each going to do a spin followed by

walking to the table and pouring a glass of water.

Let's see how I fare against these two.

HE CHUCKLES

OK, hang on. Hang on. Hang on, hang on. OK.

That wasn't very successful!

OK, and are you ready? OK, go.

Let's see how the ice skaters do.

Oh, wow!

Oh, wow. What, nothing?

That's why I couldn't do the spins on the ice, isn't it?

That's probably the only reason.

When you spin around, the fluid in your inner ear spins, too.

When you stop spinning, the fluid keeps moving, but your eyes

tell you that you are still, and that makes you feel dizzy.

The skaters are brilliant at dealing with the effects of spinning.

But how do they do it?

I've come to meet Dr Barry Seemungal,

one of the country's top experts in dizziness.

Now, all of us know what dizziness feels like, but for some people,

it can actually be quite a serious problem, can't it?

If it happens out of the blue, when you're not expecting it,

this can be due to problems in the inner ear or the brain.

And you have done a study on ballet dancers. Why have you studied them?

Ballet dancers have actually been training for most of their life

and that suppresses their sensations of dizziness.

So, what are those brain mechanisms that allow ballet dancers

to not feel dizzy?

If we can understand that, we can use that to treat patients.

This is Dr Barry's dizzy lab.

The most important part of it is this, a special chair that

allows Dr Barry to see how different people deal with dizziness.

He's going to run some tests on me and the ice stars

to see how differently our bodies cope.

This experiment will be conducted in the dark,

so I can't see when I'm turning.

After just under a minute in the chair,

something very strange happens.

I feel completely still, it's really interesting.

Like, I would absolutely promise you that I'm not moving.

Yes, that's because the fluid in the canals in the inner ear

are now moving together with your skull.

What we're going to do, we're going to stop the chair.

Whoa!

It just feels like I'm definitely moving in the opposite direction.

The fluid in my inner ears is still spinning and you can see

from my eyes flicking that my brain still thinks I'm moving.

Now it's the girls' turn.

Let's see if, when the chair stops, they still think they're moving.

-Do you feel you're moving?

-No.

-Not moving at all?

-No.

Well done.

-OK, do you feel like you're spinning?

-No.

-You don't?

-No.

-Not at all?

-No.

I've never seen anyone with zero response.

-She just isn't getting dizzy at all.

-Not at all.

When the chair stopped,

you were feeling as if you were turning for more than half a minute.

These guys were right, they felt no sensation of self-motion,

because their brains are better than yours at suppressing dizziness.

All right, don't get too smug!

Thank you, Alexia and Kloe.

Dr Barry's research has shown that the part of the brain which

deals with dizziness is actually smaller in people who train

to spin like Kloe and Alexia.

Incredible!

What's amazing about this

is it could have very real medical benefits.

If Dr Barry can train people's brains to cope with dizziness,

it could really help them lead better lives.

Right.

I'm off to practise my spinning around.

I'm not sure that's how you do it, Xand.

Let's head back to accident and emergency to meet our next patient.

You are not going to believe this one.

But I believe everything on Operation Ouch!.

-It's a figure of speech, Xand.

-Good!

In accident and emergency,

seven-year-old Emily is waiting with a terrible toe.

Ooh, that looks sore.

Stanley did it.

Stanley?

He looks far too sweet and innocent for that!

He dropped a photograph on my toe.

A photograph? How did that happen?

It was a Sunday at home.

Emily and her brother Stanley were in Emily's bedroom.

-Oh, I like those pink walls!

-I think you'll find it lilac, Xand.

-Well, what were they up to?

-They were playing.

Hide and seek?

One, two, three, found you!

-I don't think so, Xand.

-Making a den?

-That's what you used to do.

-I still do.

They were just messing around when all of a sudden,

Stanley knocked a heavy photo frame off the windowsill

and it fell straight onto Emily's toe.

Ouch!

-Does it hurt, Emily?

-Yeah.

Dr Reddy Ilavala's here again to look at that damaged digit.

-Can you wriggle your toes for me?

-EMILY'S MUM:

-Wriggle your toes.

Just making sure your joints are all right, yeah?

-Is it just your nail that hurts, sweetheart?

-The whole...

That bit, where you touched it.

On examination, there was blood underneath the nail,

so it was under tension and very painful for her.

We will try to relieve the pressure by putting a small hole.

We call that...

A knock to the toe can cause blood and pressure to build up

behind the nail, causing pain.

Trephining involves a special heated tool

to make a small hole in the toenail.

This will relieve the built-up blood and pressure

and make Emily's toe happy again.

Em, swallow.

To make sure it doesn't hurt, Emily is having some painkillers.

Dr Reddy gets trephining.

It might look drastic, but Emily will be so much better

when the pressure is released from under her toe.

Little brother Stanley is there for support.

-Blood is coming out.

-DR REDDY:

-Yeah, see?

With the blood drained,

a plaster is put on Emily's toe to protect it from infection.

It might take it might take a week or two,

but the nail will fall off and a fresh nail will grow back.

TOE-rrific. Emily gets a brand-new nail.

So what's the plan now, Emily?

I'm going to be careful with my toe.

Good idea.

Stanley, you've got to look out for your sister.

Off she hops into the distance.

DR XAND AND DR CHRIS: Bye!

Next time on Operation Ouch!...

We investigate why skin goes wrinkly...

-Xand, what are you doing?

-I'm having a bath.

Our mind-bending trick is one for your eyes.

Xand and I need to change colour.

And Chris finds out why Luke is doing all this exercise.

-Here you can see the heart muscle.

-Are you sweating yet?

-So that's it till next time...

-From Operation Ouch!

SIRENS WAIL

Chris, you haven't seen my diarrhoea sample, have you, anywhere?

I can't find it.

THEY SPLUTTER

Oh, here it is!

You got it?