At around 2330, a man walks into a fairly dead department and tells the triage nurse that he has a burn on his chest that he would like to have seen by a doctor. He gets triaged to me so I do the usual chart set up, help him get changed into a hospital gown and start my assessment. Turns out, he was waxing his chest. However, he didn’t realize that the wax was hot enough to not only stick to his hair but literally start cooking the skin underneath the hair. He could not pull the wax strip off because he would tear out a piece of chest as well as the hair so he came in for help. The staff doctor was speechless and stumped and said he would be right back. I told him not to worry his pretty little head off about it and get me some mineral oil instead. The wax was oil soluble so I kept dabbing mineral oil onto it and dissolving it piece by piece until all of it melted away. When the staff doctor asked me how I knew what to do, I shrugged it off - not out of humility - but because I wasn’t about to tell him that I’ve had my legs waxed for more than a decade with the same stuff. The man then got a little dressing, some unconventional discharge teaching and a card to my auntie’s salon!
14 comments:
Ohhhh Kelly Clarkson!
LMAO! You need to open your own clinic/salon. You'd make a killing!
The concept of co-solvency.. like dissolves like.
So awesome. You are a genius!
As a Desi, I can attest that I know way too much about epilation...
Poor guy! I hope he had insurance, or else that was one expensive and botched wax job!
He is one lucky dude to have had you taking care of him! Yeaoooza.
Oh man seeing that pic from 40yo virgin still makes me laugh.
(I would have had to bite my tongue to remind the doc that if he'd paid attention in org chem he'd have known the method to your madness--heh.)
Nice work!!
Good job. That's hysterical!
Wow,that photo reminded me of my husband...without the flesh patches.
I also second the hope the healthcare system got him a pass on this one, or that he has stellar insurance.
Some things are better left alone...
Very good to know re: mineral oil to help remove the wax.
Good stuff.
The kids on our ward end up with a free "waxing" everytime we have to remove some tape to take out an IV. The girls grin and bear it gladly. The boys squirm and cry out in pain.
Who says you'll never use something you learned in general chemistry in clinical practice!
1) I wouldn't even know where to find mineral oil in my ED.
2) A woman came into the ER recently (with an unrelated complaint), and she had this rash under her eyebrows, and the male nurse I was working with asked about it. And I was like, Dude, plucking?
Menfolks.
Too funny!!! :)
You are a SUPERGENIUS!
There's a problem that really needed a woman's touch!
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