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Posted By: Wordwind Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 04:04 PM
What do you call:

The headband with the little reflecting circle doctors used to wear?

The thing that doctors tap your knee with? It has a little triangular wedge at its end...

The satchel that the home-visiting doctors used to carry?

The machine that shows the contractions when you're giving birth?

And what do you call the paper that the above machine spits out?

Is the throat swab (the one on a long stick that looks like an elongated Q-Tip) simply called a throat swab?

And what about that thing that takes your blood pressure--that band that feels like a boa constrictor?

And the heavy blanket put over your chest when the dentist takes xray pictures?

And, finally (this is the most important), when you have nearly microscopic veins, as I do, and you want the nurse taking blood to use the very smallest needle, is there a particular type of needle I could request--say, one for newly born infants?

Many thanks to anyone who can provide any of the above terms.

WW

Posted By: wwh Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 06:46 PM
Dear WW: the blood pressure measurement device is called sphygmomanometer. I cannot think of any special names for the other things you mentioned. When it comes to having blood drawn, there is no advantage to having a fine needle used. People who exercise a lot have large veins easily seen close under the skin, but everybody has veins deep that are large enough for experienced lab lady to find. A very fine needle would take longer to pass the amount of blood required, and I think there is some possibility of red cells being damaged by too fine a needle. Let the lab lady decide.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 07:10 PM
Thank you, wwh, for sphygmomanometer. One down; seven to go.

Posted By: of troy Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 08:15 PM
Re: And the heavy blanket put over your chest when the dentist takes xray pictures?

does it have a name besides a lead (as in the metal) blanket?
My destist used to have one, labeled Brand X (i forget the brand) lead blanket.

i suspect is either has a thin sheet of lead foil, or is quilted with lead wool-- which is very similar to steel wool. In my youth, lead wool was used to fill up holes created by rodents, before they were plastered over.. if the mouse/rat/squirrel tried to eat their way through again, they got lead poisoning and died.
oh, the fond memories of a dickensian childhood!


Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 08:25 PM
of Troy: Well, if it's a lead blanket, it sure as heck is lead heavy.

Thanks for that. Six to go...

Posted By: wwh Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 10:27 PM
The little rubber bladed hammer is a "reflex hammer". When tendons are suddenly stretched by being tapped with it, a reflex contraction of muscles attached to tendon occurs unless some uncommon neurological disorder is present.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 11/18/01 11:08 PM
Sphygmomanometer Reflex Hammer Lead Blanket--sounds like a rock band to me...

Five to go, but the Rack Monster is calling...

Thanks guys...I'll dream of rock'n'roll...
WW

Posted By: tsuwm Re: Questions about Tools - 11/19/01 05:31 AM
according to the wwftd list, the small, rubber-headed hammer that physicians use to test reflexes is called a plexor.

lead blanket = lead apron
Posted By: doc_comfort Re: Questions about Tools - 11/19/01 05:38 AM
What do you call:

The headband with the little reflecting circle doctors used to wear?

No idea. I assumed it was just a head torch, and they were used because handheld torches were too cumbersome, and large overhead lights weren't powerful enough. Not used any more in the developed world.

The thing that doctors tap your knee with? It has a little triangular wedge at its end...

A tendon hammer or reflex hammer. Can be any shape. Circular ones hurt less.

The satchel that the home-visiting doctors used to carry?

You mean a Doctor's Bag? I've never come across a special name for them. Bag of tricks maybe?

The machine that shows the contractions when you're giving birth?

A CTG (cardiotocograph) machine. Measures the baby's heart (cardio) and the mother's contractions (toco).

And what do you call the paper that the above machine spits out?

A cardiotocogram. As to the name for just the paper, ask the manufacturers.

Is the throat swab (the one on a long stick that looks like an elongated Q-Tip) simply called a throat swab?

Yep. Maybe cotton-tipped swab is the more general term, but if you ask for a throat swab, you'll get the same thing.

And what about that thing that takes your blood pressure--that band that feels like a boa constrictor?

Sphygmomanometer, or sphygmo. Or BP machine.

And the heavy blanket put over your chest when the dentist takes xray pictures?

Lead blanket sounds good to me. The things you wear are lead vests or lead aprons.

And, finally (this is the most important), when you have nearly microscopic veins, as I do, and you want the nurse taking blood to use the very smallest needle, is there a particular type of needle I could request--say, one for new-born infants?

As already mentioned, smallest is not necessarily best. You can try asking for a 22-gauge needle. (I think a 16 or 18 is normal, but I could be way off).

Many thanks to anyone who can provide any of the above terms.

You're welcome.

Note the edit. Got me numbers a-muddled.
Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 11/19/01 09:51 AM
DocC: Well, my medical education for the weekend has improved a bit. Thanks again and also to of Troy and wwh.

The doctor's satchel has some kind of esoteric name I once read, probably in a casual reading through the dictionary. If I come across it again, I'll post it on the board.

Best regards,
WW

PS: Oh, and thanks, also, to tsuwm. I think that plexor may be the word I had in mind...
Posted By: Flatlander Phlebotamy - 12/07/01 07:02 PM
When it comes to having blood drawn, there is no advantage to having a fine needle used.[snip]Let the lab lady decide.

The advantage of a small needle is immediately apparent to belonephobes[1] like myself. With a sufficiently small needle and a sufficiently skilled phlebotomist[2], the process of drawing blood can be almost painless. I have always been inexplicably terrified of any sort of hypodermic needle, but the last time I had blood drawn I literally felt nothing as the very skilled "lab lady" pierced the skin and got a vein on the first try, while the nurse at my doctor's office tried three times in each arm before giving up and sending me to the hospital to have it done there.

[1] Those with a fear of needles
[2] Someone who draws/analyzes blood -- phlebotomist is a great word, but I do like "lab lady." It's much friendlier, unless of course your phlebotomist is a "lab gent."

Posted By: Flatlander Re: Questions about Tools - 12/07/01 07:07 PM
The machine that shows the contractions when you're giving birth?

A CTG (cardiotocograph) machine. Measures the baby's heart (cardio) and the mother's contractions (toco).

I remember when my daughter was born that the machine was informally called "the monitor," as in "Um, nurse? Could you stop the monitor from making that incessant beeping?"

And what do you call the paper that the above machine spits out?

A cardiotocogram. As to the name for just the paper, ask the manufacturers.

Again, this was referred to casually as "the strip," as in "Boy, after 20 hours of labor you've got a pretty long strip going there!"

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 12/07/01 11:30 PM
Dear Flatlander:

Thanks for two terrific words: cardiotocograph and cardiotocogram.

I wanted my husband to count the number of contractions, but he fell to sleep. So, I asked, after Lof' was born, could I have the paper that recorded the contractions. Was flatly turned down. It probably ended up a discardiotocogram, something I would have treasured!

Best regards,
WW

Posted By: Faldage Re: Questions about Tools - 12/08/01 01:50 PM
Dear Flatlander:

Thanks for two terrific words: cardiotocograph and cardiotocogram.


Well, at least she didn't *kill the messenger.

Some of us remember you, doc_c.

Posted By: doc_comfort Re: Questions about Tools - 12/11/01 03:24 AM
Have you seen me lately?
I was out on the radio starting to change
somewhere out in America
it's starting to rain
could you tell me the things you remember about me
and have you seen me lately?

-Counting Crows (Adam Duritz)

In the (live) version I have I'm sure they say "one thing" rather than "the things", but...

The official version
http://www.countingcrows.com/discography/rts/lyrics/lately.html
A longer version
http://home.earthlink.net/~saava/seen.html


Posted By: Flatlander Re: Questions about Tools - 12/12/01 07:25 PM
Wordwind asked for: The machine that shows the contractions when you're giving birth?

and doc_comfort answered: A CTG (cardiotocograph) machine. Measures the baby's heart (cardio) and the mother's contractions (toco).

I merely added the extraneous blather: I remember when my daughter was born that the machine was informally called "the monitor," as in "Um, nurse? Could you stop the monitor from making that incessant beeping?"

-----------------------------

Then Wordwind said:
Dear Flatlander:

Thanks for two terrific words: cardiotocograph and cardiotocogram.


Alas, the $0.25 words were courtesy of a far more medically oriented AWADer than I -- real thanks go to doc_comfort. I should have made it more obvious that I was (as usual) standing on the shoulders of a greengiant.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 12/12/01 08:55 PM
My apologies to both Doc C. and Flatlander.

The words, however, are gold: cardiotocograph and cardiotocogram. Now, how to drop them into casual conversation? Probably shouldn't go there. They would be fun, however, to set to the rhythm of "The Syncopated Clock."

Best regards,
WW

Posted By: wwh Re: Questions about Tools - 12/13/01 10:55 PM
Dear WW: "Probably shouldn't go there". Tocologic questions to the only person at the party who could answer (an obstetrician), might well evoke the response:" If you will undress, I will attempt to answer your question."

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Questions about Tools - 12/14/01 09:54 AM
Dear wwh:

tocologic, by the way, isn't defined in English on OneLook Dictionary... There's something in Italian, but I can't decipher much Italian

DubDub

Posted By: Faldage Re: Tocologic - 12/14/01 11:36 AM
Sounds like it has something to do with touching.

Posted By: emanuela tocologic - 12/14/01 02:18 PM
.parte da medicina que se ocupa da gravidez, parto e puerpério; obstétrico, tocológico
This is not Italian, but Spanish. Anyway, it means
part of medicine related to the time before, during and after giving birth.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: tocologic - 12/15/01 07:06 PM
Actually®, it's Portuguese. But Spanish is close enough (and your translation is excellent, emanuela!)
Posted By: wwh Re: tocologic - 12/15/01 08:03 PM
Actually, to tease WW, I was just using root in words Flatlander supplied. My dictionary gives as definition of tocology: n.< Gr tokos, childbirth < tiktein, to bear + LOGY OBSTETRICS I just changed it to adjective.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: tocologic - 12/17/01 09:09 AM
Dear wwh:

And to crossthread back a ways to mentor/mentee:

So, in the field of tocology, there's the tocologist (the doctor deliverer) and that would make either the mother or babe the tolocologee?

Still think cardiotocograph and cadiotocogram are two great words--can't believe they didn't register on the paper in my brain when I first read through Doc Comfort's first long post. Must have been having an ADD moment...

Best regards,
WW

Posted By: wwh Re: tocologic - 12/18/01 09:18 PM
Dear WW: one more word from root "toco""

Abstract: At least a third of the women giving birth in the United States
received intravenous oxytocin for the induction and augmentation of labor.
The problem of inactive or ineffective labor remains a major challenge for
birth attendants, midwives, and physicians who practice obstetrics. Before
the discovery of oxytocin, traditional approaches to augmentation ranged
from magical and folk interventions to extensive bloodletting. Despite its
wide use the effectiveness of oxytocin augmentation has not been well
studied, and current research raises new questions about its effect on the
brain.

Posted By: consuelo oxytocin - 12/18/01 11:18 PM
Dear Dr. Bill,
Many years ago, my ex-husband and I had a clinic in very rural Mexico. It was a four hour ride on washboard roads to the nearest paved road. We did have access to a short-band radio to call for a small plane in extreme emergencies, unless it was raining and the canyon was full of water rushing at a pace to carry boulders, cars, animals, etc. On this note:

It was a dark and stormy morning when Juanita came to the clinic to deliver her sixth child. We had no provisions for performing c-sections and so she labored unproductively for twelve hours. The canyon roared outside our window. No chance of crossing the torrent, even if a plane could land in the caliche mud. The landing strip was on the other side of the canyon. Juanita never cried out in pain but I could measure her contractions by her clicking fingernails. We finally started a pitocin drip. We monitored her vitals every 15 minutes all through the night. Her cervix had been scarred so badly that it would no longer dilate. Finally, my husband manually dilated her and Esperanza was born nearly 24 hours after Juanita arrived at the clinic. Soon after, the rain ceased. Juanita had her tubes tied the next month.

Posted By: wwh Re: oxytocin - 12/19/01 12:51 AM
Dear consuelo: I have heard many sad stories about the long hard cervix. Glad your involvement had a happy ending.

Into my erratic memory popped the word "alpha tocopherol" = Vitamin E Couldn't figure out why. So I looked it up:
itamin E was the fifth vitamin discovered when researchers found that a dietary
deficiency in laboratory rats produced fetal death in pregnant females. The name
"tocopherol" was derived from the Greek words for childbirth (tos), to bring forth
(phero), and the chemical designation for an alcohol (ol). Vitamin E acts as a
co-enzyme in cellular membranes and serves as a scavenger for free radicals that
are destructive to the membrane and internal cellular components. Natural sources of
vitamin E are vegetable oils, sunflower seeds, almonds, and peanuts.


Posted By: of troy Re: tocologic - 12/19/01 07:43 PM
good grief! this has the potential to be worse than a food thread!
and my contributions could only be my own personal experiences with unproductive labor and the use of oxytocin .

gossip i have heard is from the word god sib-- where sib had the meaning of kinsman.. so a gossip was the god mother (or father) -- who might have attended a birth as( or to assist) a midwife, and would later talk about it.. i don't know if i want to gossip about what i know about oxytocin.





Posted By: wwh Re: tocologic - 12/19/01 08:42 PM
Dear of troy: Quite a while ago I encountered the etymology of "gossip" being from the custom of baptizing all the new infants in a community in early England at the same time, which made them "God's sibs". So in later life they would know each other and be neighbors, and naturally indulge in spreading rumors, etc.

Our word "gossip" reflects this through its etymology: gossip from the late
Old English godsibbe, godparent or god-kin. Apart from the application of
"godparent" as a sponsor in the faith of a child, it's not difficult to imagine the
possibility of damage resulting from whispered rumors by family members or
neighbors. Perhaps Europe and the Americas no longer whip or dunk, put an
offender in stocks, or perform some variation of The Scarlet Letter, however in
many parts of the world ...these and much more severe punishments exist. The
recent report from Amnesty International which remarked on the deaths of over
1600 Pakistani women since 1990 from kitchen fires is a sad example of this.
Gossip is an exercise of power.

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