Extraordinary Ears Operation Ouch!

He's Dr Chris.

He's Dr Xand.

And yes, he's still got his beard.

And we're still identical twins.

Your body's amazing and we're going to show you why.

We're head-to-head in Operation Takeover.

This is very, very hard.

-BOTH:

-Man overboard!

Ouch and About hits the wards.

That might be the squishiest nose I've ever seen.

First aid is back.

So we do need to get Xand to hospital.

Meet our brilliant new Ouch-patients.

I'm off to my physio appointment.

And our lab experiments...

-Ta-da!

-..will blow...

Pretty spectacular, isn't it?

..your mind!

Are you ready to join us?

You're crazy!

Woo!

I can't see a thing.

Coming up today...

..on Operation Ouch!...

There's a bang on the lab roof.

Chris has some advice.

You've got to be sick into the air

so that it goes over all the people behind you.

And Xand opens wide.

But first...

..let's see...

-..who's turned up...

-..in the accident...

..and emergency department.

At the emergency department in Sheffield, nine-year-old Tenny

is waiting with her mum and a heap of bloody tissues.

Who NOSE what happened?

I suddenly started having a nosebleed at school

and then I had to go home because it was that big.

Crikey! Tell me more.

Tenny loves skipping with her mates.

Don't we all? I skip loads of things.

Washing up? I don't think so!

Picking up my smelly socks? Yeah, right!

That's MY sock!

Anyway, Tenny loves jump rope skipping.

Well, I do that, too.

She was skipping away in the school playground...

Boing-boing!

..when her nose began to bleed and just would not stop.

Get her some tissues.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

Tenny's nose has been bleeding for 25 minutes.

-All right, come through.

-Don't forget your tissues.

Just in case.

Dr Alex Damazer to the rescue.

She must be good because Tenny's nose has just stopped bleeding.

So today, you've had one that stopped a few minutes ago.

Tenny has been having nosebleeds since she was three years old.

She gets them all the time.

The inside of your nose is lined with lots of blood vessels.

They're very close to the surface and they're easily damaged,

creating a nosebleed.

The damage can be caused by lots of things including dry air,

sneezing or picking.

And how do you stop us from bleeding when it's bleeding?

-I sometimes pinch the soft tissue here.

-Tick!

-Get some tissue.

-Tick!

-Or I use ice.

-Tick!

So you're an expert at nosebleeds.

Well done, Tenny. That's spot on.

Let's have a look up your nose.

Do you always bleed from the same side?

This side. Your right?

Yeah, I can tell.

I'm going to have a chat with one of the others, either

the registrars or the consultants, and talk about cauterisation.

Cauterisation is a procedure to seal the blood vessels,

which will stop Tenny getting nosebleeds.

Find out if this works for Tenny later on.

And now to our lab.

It's time for some big body experiments,

some of them gory...

This is not for the squeamish.

..some extreme.

It's freezing!

So are you ready?

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

Today we're looking at what makes your ears pop.

So if you want to know what this is all about...

..keep watching!

Hi, Xand.

Hi, Xand.

Oh, that's much better.

-What are you doing?

-Oh, what, you mean with the whole...

HE GROANS ..thing?

-Yes, the whole...

-HE GROANS

..thing. But also the armband, towel,

and why are you using my heart as a drying rack?

Well, I went swimming this morning and I dove down really deep

and then when I came up, my ears felt all blocked up

and so I thought, maybe if I just did a bit of this,

I could get them to...

POP! XAND SCREAMS

-..pop.

-I'm glad you brought up ears popping, Xand,

because today's lab is all about the very piece of body kit

that enables that to happen.

Today's lab is all about

the amazing Eustachian tube.

My second favourite part of the body,

after the epiglottis.

Now, if you've ever swum down deep lake Xand

or been up in an aeroplane,

you might have felt your ears popping

or felt like they needed to pop, but why does it happen?

Well, it's all to do with keeping the pressure inside your head

the same as the pressure outside of your head

in the atmosphere around you.

And to understand how they pop, take a look at this.

Wait a minute - what is this?

Chris, this looks suspiciously like my goldfish tank

in which live my goldfish, Dolly and Dave.

Don't worry, Xand, they've just gone on holiday for a couple of days.

On holiday?!

PHONE VIBRATES

"Hi, Xand, we go to the seaside for a couple of days.

"See you soon. Love, Dolly and Dave."

Hmm, well, they didn't tell me they were going anywhere.

Anyway, whilst they're away, they said I could use their tank,

so this side of the tank

represents the middle ear,

the bit just behind your eardrum,

and this side of the tank represents the outside world,

and the water in the tank represents air pressure.

There's high pressure in the outside world

and low pressure in the middle ear.

And this type of imbalance is really uncomfortable because

the pressure pushes on the eardrum.

And this is where your Eustachian tube springs into action.

Like this.

When you swallow or yawn, it opens up,

allowing the ear pressure in the middle ear

to equalise with the atmosphere around you.

It connects your middle ear to the back of your throat.

But don't just take our word for it.

We're going to show you where the opening to the Eustachian tube is

and what it looks like, using this camera.

I'm going to put it right to the back of my mouth,

-past the dangly a bit...

-The uvula.

..then I'll hook it over my soft palate

and push it forwards through my noise.

The Operation Ouch! sticker,

that should be the opening to Xand's Eustachian tube.

Now, we've never done this before

and I don't know if it's going to work,

but we're going to give it our best shot.

We can only do this because we're doctors.

Right, Xand, insert the camera.

The camera's now going through Xand's mouth.

See the lab here, it's got the camera showing back at the lab.

Now we're right at the back of Xand's mouth

and that, there, is the entrance to Xand's Eustachian tube.

That is an amazing view.

There we go, we've actually found it. Wow!

And if I shine this light up Xand's nose, it shows you where

the Eustachian tube is in relation to his nostrils.

What do you think, Xand?

XAND MUMBLES

So now you know where it is and how it works,

but what would happen if it wasn't there at all?

Well, let's find out.

To the Ouch Roof!

It's just the roof of the lab, Xand.

WHISPERS: Ouch Roof!

This is an oil drum.

Yes, but for the purposes of our experiment,

let's call it the middle ear.

That this bit, between the ear canal and the Eustachian tube.

-OK, can we get on now?

-Yes.

In the bottom of the drum is some water being heated by a burner

and being turned into steam.

This hole in the top of the drum

represents your Eustachian tube.

So, with the top of the drum open like this,

it represents what's going on inside your ear.

The Eustachian tube is equalising the pressure inside the ear

with the pressure outside.

But what would happen if this middle ear didn't have a Eustachian tube?

Well, we're going to show you.

By putting the lid on the top of the oil drum,

Chris is creating the same effect

as if your Eustachian tube wasn't working.

We're going to cool down the outside of the drum, creating an imbalance

between the pressure on the outside of the ear

and the pressure on the inside.

Just like what happens when you dive down deep

or land in an aeroplane.

So, can you guess what will happen? Ready?

Oh!

LAUGHTER

With no Eustachian tube to

equalise the lower pressure inside

with the higher pressure outside,

the drum imploded!

And that's why you need a Eustachian tube.

And what's amazing about this is, this is a hard steel drum,

it's not soft at all, and yet it has been completely crushed

by the atmospheric pressure.

So without a Eustachian tube, your body wouldn't be able to equalise

the pressure between your middle ear and the atmosphere.

We've shown you just where your Eustachian tube is

and why it's there.

Without this incredible piece of body kit,

you wouldn't be able to pop your ears,

equalising the pressure inside

with the pressure outside.

So, now that's sorted...

I'm off to see Dave and Dolly at the beach.

I could use a few days on holiday.

Well, haven't we got lucky with the weather?

You know what I fancy for dinner?

Fish and chips.

I mean, chips. Just chips.

Only the chips. Chips is best.

SIREN BLARES

-We're both...

-BOTH:

-..Ouch And About.

I'm hitting the wards with my Ouch bleeper.

-Have you got a question for me?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

And I'm hitting the streets to answer your medical mysteries.

In the hospital playground, Xand's in a right tangle.

-BEEPING

-Quick, that's your bleeper!

It's from Ellie.

She's recovering from an operation.

Hi, Ellie, how are you?

-Hi, Dr Xand.

-Do you have a question for me?

How did your spine keep you up on your feet?

What's the diagnosis, doc?

Sounds to me like a case of...

You'd better put you back into this one, Xand.

So your spine is made of bones called vertebrae.

They stack up and between each one is a rubbery disc of cartilage.

And that means your spine is

almost like a sort of flexible, bendy pole that's quite strong,

but that on its own won't hold you upright.

What you need around your spine

is all the muscles that keep it held straight.

So if you just had muscles and no spine, you'd still flop?

If you took out your spine,

you'd just collapse in a heap of jelly,

but if you took away your muscles,

you'd just fall down like a stack of blocks,

so you need both muscles and bones.

Why are you interested in your spine?

Cos I had an operation on my spine

cos I have cerebral palsy.

How do you explain cerebral palsy?

The signals in my brain get muddled up and go to my legs

so that I walk on my tippy toes.

And did the operation fix it?

-Yes.

-You deserve an Operation Ouch! sticker.

-Thank you.

-Can you show me your walking?

-Mm-hm.

Brilliant, Ellie.

Dr Chris is stepping out, too.

He's on a quest for questions.

Dr Chris?

What is your medical mystery question?

My question is...

So what you're describing is,

when the roller coasters gets to the top and you go over,

that's when your stomach rises.

What you're experiencing there is no gravity, so you're floating

and it's a bit like being in space.

It can make you feel quite sick.

What do you have to remember when you're sick on a roller-coaster?

You've got to be sick into the air

so that it goes over all the people behind you.

Yuck! Chris!

I'm going to give you a sticker.

Come on, Xand. Don't tell me you've never done it.

-BEEPING

-That's your next call.

It's from Bethany, who has an infection.

Hi, Bethany, how are you?

-Hi, Xand.

-So, have you got a question for me?

I do. How do painkillers know where the pain is?

What's the diagnosis, doc?

It sounds to me like a case of...

Ouch, that sounds painful.

The thing about painkillers is they actually don't know where to go.

What they do is they work all over your body.

Now, are you taking painkillers at the moment?

Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.

These painkillers act both in the brain,

where they stop pain signals being received, and elsewhere in the body.

So wherever you have inflammation,

you tend to get hot and red and swollen

and the anti-inflammatory painkillers

that you're taking are damping down that inflammation

so it hurts a bit less while your body mends.

-Does that make sense?

-It does.

-Here you go.

-Thank you.

-Bethany, thank you very much. Bye.

-Bye.

Job done for today.

Clinic closed.

Remember Tenny and her bleeding nose?

Her bleeding knows what?

-Her bleeding nose.

-Yes, what does it know?

You said her bleeding knows something, what is the something?

-What does it know?

-What? Her bleeding nose?

Finish the sentence!

Let's find out how she's getting on.

Earlier, Tenny and her mum arrived in the emergency department with...

..a humongous pile of tissues...

..and one of her many nosebleeds.

Tenny was skipping with her mates in the school playground when her nose

began to bleed and it wouldn't stop.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

This isn't unusual for Tenny.

Here's Dr Jo Stone with a plan to stop the nosebleeds for good.

Dr Jo starts by using a spray which is a local anaesthetic.

It's numbs Tenny's nose so she can't feel any pain.

But it doesn't taste too good.

Then Dr Jo gets a stick

with a chemical on the end called silver nitrate

to cauterise her nose.

-Is it like a bit of a fire thing, like a spark?

-No, not at all.

Don't worry, Tenny, there's not a sparkler in sight.

Cauterisation means to carefully burn and destroy unwanted tissue.

The silver nitrate on the end of the stick softly burns the troublesome

blood vessel, sealing it up

and stopping it from ever bleeding again.

It sounds drastic, but it's very gentle and, with the anaesthetic,

Tenny doesn't feel a thing.

You're all done.

Yeah, it was not that bad.

She shouldn't pick it, blow it, try not to sneeze too much

and hopefully it should go back to normal within about five days.

Hopefully my nosebleeds won't start again.

Well, fingers crossed that's done the trick.

-Bye!

-Bye!

Still to come...

..Frankie's full of fun...

Why did the chicken cross the road?

..and Xand meets Grace and Scooby.

Oh, hello!

But first...

Did you know that in your lifetime

your mouth will produce enough saliva

to fill two swimming pools?

Wow!

Amazing people do lots of important jobs inside and outside hospitals

that help to keep you safe.

But what will happen when we have a go?

I feel a bit silly.

This is Operation Takeover.

Can you guess who today's hero is?

Well, I'll give you a clue.

You might have to see them if...

You're bit hard to understand.

That was a rubbish clue, Chris!

We're about to take over the job of today's hero,

dental surgeon Anitha.

Anitha is a top trainer

at the King's College London Dental Institute.

Now, how important is it to look after your teeth?

It is incredibly important to look after your teeth.

Brushing morning and night for two minutes

and to try and not eat too many sugary things,

fizzy drinks especially.

So how often should you see the dentist?

You should really see the dentist every six months.

-A-hem-hem.

-What?

Dr Xand is very proud of his teeth and he would like

to show them off to you. Would you mind having a look at them?

Absolutely, that's no problem.

He's such a show-off.

Here we go, Xand. Open wide!

Right, eight, seven, six...

If you've ever wondered what on earth your dentist is talking about

when you're in the chair, here's how it works.

Each tooth is given a specific number

according to where it is in the mouth.

Any milk teeth you still have will be given a letter.

And what kind of common problems are you looking for?

I'm looking to make sure that you're brushing properly

and that there isn't any decay in your teeth.

Xand's done very well and he doesn't have any.

Very impressive, Xand.

Before we're let loose on today's takeover challenge,

we need a masterclass, but I've no idea who we're going to practise on.

We use something very special.

-We use a phantom head.

-A phantom head?!

Argh!

Oh, come on, Xand.

-Really? The phantom...

-Argh!

-..or model head

is used by students to practise doing fillings.

You start by putting in a suction tube

to remove any extra saliva so the patient doesn't choke.

Next you use the drill.

Cool.

Attaching the drill bit with a steady hand.

-There you go.

-Clicks in.

Then we're going to imagine that this tooth has a little bit

of decay in it and so we're going to cut a little, teeny, tiny hole.

In goes the filling.

We're going to use a white filling

material called composite.

Which is set hard using an ultraviolet light.

-Wow!

-So we cover it so that it doesn't hurt our eyes

and then if you touch it, it's gone completely hard.

-Amazing.

-Thanks, Anitha.

We seen just how important dentists are for keeping your oral health

in tiptop condition.

But will we be able to brush up on our skills enough

to make our careers as dentists sparkle?

Come on.

It's time for us to take over as dentists.

Your challenge is to perform a filling on a phantom head.

The first part is to remove the decay

and the second part is to put the filling in.

I'll be judging you on your professionalism, your technique

and how well you make it look like a real tooth at the end.

You know what, Chris? I've really got this challenge.

Anitha thinks my teeth look great

and now that I've overcome my fear of the phantom heads,

there's really nothing to worry about.

Oh, you've overcome your fear, have you?

Well, this won't bother you at all.

Argh!

Come on, Chris. It's time to get our teeth into this.

No problem.

First of all, we get out the drill.

Put that right in.

-OK.

-That's very good.

Hello, sir or madam.

Drill.

-DRILL WHIZZES Oh...

-Oh!

Whoa! Health and safety, Xand!

Before you take your eye out, press the back, goes in and locks it.

So, first big mistake.

So you've got to lock the drill bit into the hand-piece.

It can fly out and then that could hurt somebody.

It's a bit nerve-racking cos it looks so much like a real tooth.

I kind of don't want to drill into it.

I'm drilling already.

What about the suction, smarty-pants?

So, he's forgotten to turn his suction on.

That's embarrassing.

So if it was a real patient, they'd be gurgling.

Erm, I'd focus on yourself rather than me, Xand.

Oh, he's got his hands in the patient's eyes.

We don't do that, usually.

Come on, slowcoach. I've moved on to filling.

Right behind you.

I've had to use quite a lot

and I think I may have drilled out a little too much tooth.

Oh, Xand.

I mean, it's very clear now why people have to train

for years and years how to do this.

Just need to set it with the UV light.

Probably enough. And, right, thanks very much, sir or madam.

You can go on your way.

Well, I think I'm done. A satisfied customer.

You can close your mouth now.

Not sure he's impressed.

Fingers crossed Anitha is.

Time for the verdict.

Anitha, how did we do?

Well, you both tried really hard.

-That's not good.

-"Tried."

-That is not good.

In terms of professionalism, Xand,

you did put your fingers in the patient's eyes.

I needed a place to rest my hand.

Technique-wise, Xand did take a bit more tooth off

than we normally would.

For the final product, actually, you were both not too bad.

So what's the verdict?

-Chris.

-Yes!

-Oh!

I guess I wasn't expecting to lose.

What, cos you'd had such a good time?

I'd begun to believe that I had become a dentist.

Well, Xand, you may have felt like a real dentist,

but you're not a real dentist.

That is a job most certainly best left to the professionals.

Anitha, I think you better have our coats back.

Fabulous.

Your body is amazing, but sometimes it needs help.

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

to tackle medical mysteries.

And not all of them are human.

When I get ready in the morning, I barely give it a second thought.

The task of putting on shoes and socks might seem easy to most of us,

but to some people, this is a real challenge.

I'm meeting 13-year-old Grace.

Grace, how are you doing?

Grace, like Ellie we met earlier,

has cerebral palsy,

a brain condition that affects muscle control and movement.

In Grace's case, both her movement and speech are affected

and she often needs the use of a wheelchair to help her get around.

Hang on, was Grace texting with her toes?

Cool.

What do you think you fight harder to do in a day than I would?

Anything to do with my hands, picking things up.

Picking things up?

Is it frustrating not to be able to pick things up or...?

Yeah, very frustrating.

Apparently you have a special someone who helps you do stuff,

-is that right?

-Yeah.

Scooby!

Oh, hello! So who's this?

Scooby.

Hello, how are you doing?

Scooby isn't just cute,

he's a professionally trained assistance dog

whose job is to help Grace.

After seeing assistance dogs on BBC's Children In Need,

Grace knew that one would help improve her life

so she contacted the charity Dogs For Good.

Scooby helps Grace in everyday tasks.

He can open doors...

-Thank you.

-..pull off her socks...

Wow! ..and look, he even helps her get out of bed in the morning!

That's amazing.

XAND LAUGHS So, Scooby, up, up.

Does he make the bed as well?

-No.

-Dogs don't do that.

Mum Simone has seen a massive difference in Grace

since Scooby arrived.

He is a calming presence for her.

If she's in a bad mood, if she's come home from school in a bad mood,

he meets her at the door and he just makes her laugh straightaway

cos he sniffs the wheelchair for her leftover lunch.

It's a lot of responsibility, having a dog, for a kid,

so you're kind of forced to be a bit more independent.

Grace will wash Scooby's food bowl, she'll wash his water bowl,

make sure he's got fresh water every day.

Scooby also encourages Grace to go outside and be more active.

Has he changed how much you get out of the house?

Yeah. Before, I would only go out

maybe once a week.

You'd go out of the house once a week before you got Scooby?

-Yeah.

-Wow. And now how often do you go out of the house?

Every day.

That's a massive difference.

And do you feel better because of that?

-Yeah.

-Are you better at football?

-Yeah.

Scooby makes such a difference.

He helps Grace's independence,

he keeps her fit and he's her best mate.

Have you got any nicknames for Scooby?

BDF.

BDF? What does that stand for?

Best dog forever.

Best dog forever?

I think that's probably right.

It's great to know assistance dogs like Scooby

can make such a difference.

It's amazing to see how helpful Scooby is.

I wonder if he could take over from Dr Chris for a while.

What do you think, Scoob?

Oi!

Unfortunately, things got on top of our next patient.

That's right. A lot of things right on top of him.

Luckily, he came to the emergency department.

In Sheffield accident and emergency,

five-year-old Frankie is waiting

to see the doc with his dad and his nan.

How did you get that cut, Frankie?

One landed on my head very completely.

What landed on your head very completely?

And then...

-..crack.

-Yikes!

But what was it? Let's get the full story.

Frankie was playing in his school playground.

Wow, that playhouse is huge!

-It looks awesome.

-It does.

But Frankie and his mate Harry had grand ideas of their own.

They started to build the biggest skyscraper

in the history of the world ever.

It's a whopper!

It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger...

But as they were busily building,

it got knocked and came crashing down.

Oh, no!

One of the big blocks hit Frankie on the head, knocking him over.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

My daddy thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not!

I'm not even crazy.

Come on in, Dr Robert Eastman, before these two fall out.

-Did you hurt anywhere else on your body?

-No, just my head.

-Just the head?

-Yeah, because, do you want to look at it?

Yeah, I do want to look at it if that's OK.

I think it's a broken bone, too.

Well, shall I have a look and find out for you?

Yeah, with an X-ray, then you can show it me on the screen.

-OK.

-I think we should call your Dr Frankie!

But the other doctor in the room starts by checking the nerves

which control his eyes.

I need you to pull some funny faces for me.

Squeeze your eyes nice and tight shut.

Show me your teeth.

That is a funny face, Frankie.

It looks funnier than my jokes.

You do jokes? Go on.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

I don't know.

To get to the other side.

Not funny, is it?

Erm, it's better than Xand's jokes, that's for sure!

Oi!

Next, Dr Robert has a good look at that cut.

-Does that hurt the most?

-Yeah, that hurts the most.

What's the diagnosis, doc?

Probably don't need an X-ray.

Your bones feel fine.

We'll go and see the nurses

and see if they can pop that back together for you.

Nurse Megan Cox gives the cut a thorough wash

and then uses special glue to seal it up so it mends properly.

Done.

And now this is the end of being on TV.

We miss you already, Frankie!

-BOTH:

-Bye!

Next time on Operation Ouch!...

..we take a dip...

Argh! Argh! Argh!

..Xand's got a sinking feeling...

GROANING

..and Chris hits the deck.

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

..Operation Ouch!

Chris? Chris!

Chris!

Chris, wait for me!

Wait for me, Chris!

-Hi, Bethany, how are you?

-Hi, Chris.

-It's Xand.

-Oh, hi, Xand!

LAUGHTER

Ahem!

Take a look at this.

LAUGHTER

Huh? Must be the middle... HE TRAILS OFF

Sorry.