Life always likes to take advantage of not paying attention, secretly adding some "material" to people, sometimes, it is directly added to the ear canal, digestive tract, eyelids...
For example, when people are comfortably stuffing a cotton swab into their ear canals, slowly turning, a burst of extremely pleasant crispness slowly rising...
(Source: soogif)
suddenly! The cotton on the cotton swab was lost in the ear unexpectedly!
(Source: The scene of the accident experienced by the author personally)
This story happened not long ago, this unwilling to provide a name, but everyone is really curious to see the author in the "main creative team" at the end of the article, that is, I myself, as usual, plucked out the itchy ears before going to bed...
Unexpectedly, this time the cotton swab not only did not bring a trace of "booty" out, but also left the cotton in the ear.
Take is definitely to be taken out...
First, I tried to carefully clip out the cotton with tweezers, but after only two strands of cotton wool were clipped, nothing could be clipped.
(Source: giphy)
The only "rescue" measure that can be done at home seems to have failed.
So, I hurried to take a taxi to the emergency room with my heart up and down again, against the moonlight at ten o'clock.
The late-night ENT emergency room seems to be designed for someone like me who doesn't listen to advice— the last patient who visited the doctor was a child who had swallowed fish bones by mistake at midnight.
In the examination room, there are all kinds of "picking" instruments. There are four or five tweezers alone, and the visual inspection ranges from more than ten centimeters to more than thirty centimeters.
When the doctor learned about the situation, he put on an otoscope that looked like a temperature gun and began to examine my ear canal.
But the test results were unexpected, my ear canal was very unobstructed, there was no foreign body, and then I took another film, and the result was the same!
(Source: Yes, it is my own case)
The doctor believes: "The cotton of the cotton swab fell into the ear, probably because the cotton at this end was not enough and not wrapped tightly, so there was not much cotton wool left in the ear canal." ”
I asked him, "Is there any residual cotton wool?" ”
The doctor replied: "My judgment is not, if you feel unwell, you can wait for the day to come and rinse the ear canal." ”
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the doctor solemnly instructed:
"In the future, it is best not to pluck your own ears, especially with cotton swabs!" If the cotton swab is broken in the ear, you can at least find it in time, but other problems, such as pushing the earwax too deeply, causing inflammation and hearing loss, you may not be able to go to the hospital in time for examination! ”
How did that sentence come about? Some people listen to a lot of truths, but they still pluck their ears for coolness.
I have also written about the disadvantages of ear plucking, I know that using a cotton swab to pluck the ear, although it can bring out some earwax like a trophy, it is also easy to push other earwax deep into the ear, or even near the eardrum.
But sometimes I just can't help it! (However, this time I really know that I am wrong, so please take this as a warning.) ）
The ear feces in everyone's ears are also called "earwax", but it is not equivalent to "dirt", it can intercept dust for the eardrum, play a role in filtering and protecting.
This is shown in the following figure
The most correct way to clean up earwax is to let it fall out naturally.
Protecting your ears starts with "not over-cleaning", and from now on this is my motto.
Earwax has been said, so let's talk about the same emergency bad guy as me, the child who swallowed the fish thorn.
In fact, many people do not attach importance to the matter of "swallowing foreign objects by mistake".
For example, the child who swallowed the fish thorn by mistake, she was angry that night, and kept telling her father that her throat and intestines were not uncomfortable, and she did not want to stay in the hospital at all.
I certainly sincerely hope that the father and daughter are just running in vain, but her father's worries are not superfluous.
Although most people who swallow fish bones by mistake are not in the end, accidents such as "fish bones cut through the walls of the esophagus" and "fish bones poke into the chest and lower the aorta" in the news, it is not certain when they will find the door.
The picture below is a high-risk case of esophageal foreign body received by the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University in April 2019, this fish spine is close to the aortic arch, if the aorta is punctured, the consequences are unimaginable!
(Source: Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital Weibo)
In April this year, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University received a more critical patient with a fish thorn pierced into the chest descending aorta, which has formed a pseudo-aneurysm.
Professor Wu Zhongkai, director of cardiac surgery, said: "If you look at the experience and data of your peers at home and abroad, patients with similar conditions can be called nine deaths. ”
Although the patient ignored the early pain and missed the best time to "take the stab" due to drunkenness, after a month of treatment, he was finally out of danger.
However, the cost of treatment such as replacing artificial blood vessels and sealing esophageal fractures is as high as 500,000. "This is perhaps the most expensive fish thorn." Rong Jian, director of the department of cardiopulmonary bypass of the hospital, sighed.
Swallowing foreign objects by mistake is not only fish bones, children's toy marbles, magnetic beads, small building blocks, date cores, cherry cores, loquat nuclei, etc. are potentially dangerous, not only can scratch the esophagus, but also block the airway, causing suffocation.
(Source: Screenshot of Sichuan Observation News Eye Weibo)
So if we really encounter the situation of swallowing a foreign body in our lives, what kind of first aid measures should we take at the first time [2]?
If the airway is blocked or partially blocked, and the patient is unable to breathe or speak, dial 120 in time.
At the same time, if the airway is completely blocked or severely blocked, the Heimlich first aid method can be taken immediately to help the foreign body drain quickly.
This kind of first aid measure often appears in film and television dramas, and everyone can learn it.
However, it should be noted that although the Heimlich first aid method has a certain effect, it may also bring certain harms, especially for the elderly.
The elasticity and compliance of the chest and abdomen tissues in the elderly are relatively poor, and they are more likely to be injured, such as rupture, tearing and bleeding of internal organs in the abdomen or chest cavity, and rib fractures.
Studies have suggested that the middle and lower sternum of the sternum can be switched to the "chest impact method" (which is also recommended for pregnant women and obese people) in the elderly [3].
In addition, if the foreign body is only semi-blocked the airway, the throat can still make a sound, you can try to cough out whether the cough can be coughed out, but remember not to swallow all kinds of food, try to stuff the foreign body into it. If you can't make a sound at all, and your face is red, it means that your airway is completely blocked, and you must use Heimlich First Aid immediately.
If the foreign body is accidentally swallowed into the esophagus, or cannot be taken out of the mouth, it is necessary to go to the hospital immediately for examination, and the doctor will judge according to the type, location, and severity of the symptoms.
Remember not to take chances, don't think that it can be casually "pulled out", or use folk remedies (such as drinking vinegar, swallowing rice or steamed buns, etc.), these methods are not advisable, may make the disease worse.
In addition, there is also a situation to pay attention to, that is, the foreign body is trapped in the eye.
Have you ever seen a sesame-sized contact lens fragment?
For ophthalmologists, such fragments are not unfamiliar, there are many people who wear contact lenses to bathe, spend the night, and rub their eyes, which may damage contact lenses and cause foreign body residue.
These fragments, left for a long time, are easy to cause corneal infections, corneal abrasions, causing inflammation, and may even be blind.
(Source: News 110 program screenshot)
In the news pictured above, the patient rubbed his eyes on the way to work, and the contact lenses were broken in the eyes. After arriving at the hospital, the doctor conducted a "carpet search" of her eyelids and conjunctival sac before removing 3 fragments one by one.
(Source: Fuzhou Evening News)
This patient, like me, was already a stroke of misfortune in this situation. Fortunately, the contact lens fragment caused the pain, and she rushed to the ophthalmologist in time, if the discomfort is slightly less, or she ignores the discomfort and treats it later, the consequences may be serious.
Here is also a reminder that if you encounter a similar situation, you can refer to the american eye association's recommended operation method: first try to rinse the eyes with artificial tears, and pay attention to whether there are lenses exposed from the eyelids or washed out by water [3].
If you really can't find it, you have to go to the ophthalmologist as soon as possible. The ophthalmologist can use a microscope to examine the cornea for foreign bodies or trauma caused by foreign bodies under slit lamps.
When I tell you what happened to me, you may find it funny, but health is actually a very serious matter, but you must not joke with your own health.
Review expert: Chen Jingguo| Ph.D. in department of entolaryngology, second affiliated hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University
bibliography
[1] Mayo Clinic:“A step-by-step guide explaining what to do in a choking emergency.”
[2] Webmd：“Swallowed Object Treatment”https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/swallowed-object-treatment
[3] Ebrahimi M, Mirhaghi A. Heimlich Maneuver Complications: A Systematic Review. Eurasian J Emerg Med 2019;18:157-165.
[4] American Acdemy of Ophthalmology：“How do I get a contact lens out from the top of my eye?”
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