Cadaver lab: My hands smell and itch for hours : |

[UAAWolf]

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Disgusting. Especially since they did not embalm our cadaver properly and blood sprayed all over the wall when we opened up the chest with a bone saw (100% serious).

Teacher was like well if it's not molding why let a few gallons of fluid stop you? So every day we suction out like a bucket of blood/formalin juice.

It looks about as wet as an autopsy....lol I bet you could still get diseases from it esp since it seems to be rotting slowly.

ANYWAYS, my hands stink and also itch for like half a day after lab, despite wearing gloves.

FML lol

 

[siliso]

I wonder if it's your gloves bugging your hands. My hands smell chemically after wearing nitrile gloves even if I haven't mucked around much in lab. The fluid situation sounds pretty gross, anyway.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I find that latex gloves start to make your hands smell pretty bad after awhile. The itching might be a low-grade allergy, or perhaps your hands just don't like being damp for that long. Either way, try switching glove compounds (latex to nitrile or vice versa) to see if that helps. If not, try switching gloves, washing your hands each time.

 

[Encephalectomy]

agree that it could be the gloves. I am pretty sensitive to formaldahyde and double gloving helped me out alot with the tingling/itching so I'd suggest giving that a shot as well. As far as the smell goes...I don't think there is any way around it. I just was thankful 99.9% of the time that I am a mouth-breather, but the other .1% were nightmare inducing instances of fat/fascia landing inside my oral cavity.

 

[Meerkatology]

tried double gloving?

 

[SnowTown]

human saliva is the best neutralizing solution to formaldehyde... just lick your fingers after the lab and you're good to go

 

[girlofgrace7]

My roommate had a poorly-embalmed cadaver, and they ended up switching it out within like a week or two. With gloves, I swear by nitriles because Latex cracks my hands and I hate being able to feel fluid through the glove. Also, with hands cracking, try using Aquaphor... that stuff feels gross going onto your skin, but it's amazing.

 

[Melicopter]

Are you guys not double-gloving?

That stuff makes hands tingly + stinky without double gloves! Sorry about the fluid issues, though. That's nasty.
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[TobiasFish]

Just let someone else cut, and sit back and watch comfortably.

 

[cushie]

.

 

[silverhorse84]

human saliva is the best neutralizing solution to formaldehyde... just lick your fingers after the lab and you're good to go

but also

 

[Cruzinman]

Here's something to look forward to: I took gross anatomy in 1970, and I can still smell my dissecting manual.

 

[SPQR]

If you guys are working with formaldehyde/formalin (as most embalming fluid contains some mixture of formalin and alcohols), it would be wise to invest in nitrile gloves. (I'm a pathologist and nitrile gloves are the only ones I would wear when working with formalin fixed tissue).

 

[st2205]

As I had said in a previous thread, condoms on each finger with a nitrile glove on top. Though I never tried it, the people who did swore by it. I'm guessing it can be rather expensive, but if I recall correctly a few people were getting them for free at Planned Parenthood.

 

[Stixman28]

Are you guys not double-gloving?

That stuff makes hands tingly + stinky without double gloves! Sorry about the fluid issues, though. That's nasty.
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Agreed, Double gloving makes a world of difference concerning lingering smell.

itching...i agree that a glove type switch is amongst your best options

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Agreed, Double gloving makes a world of difference concerning lingering smell.

itching...i agree that a glove type switch is amongst your best options

I also concur. I started the double-glove routine and never looked back. I used nitrile. You'll notice that some people say their hands don't smell after lab. Watch these people and you'll see they don't get down and dirty with their hands as much as you do. Once you get a layer of cadaver slime on your hands it permeates the gloves pretty fast. So keep paper towels around and wipe your gloved hands down periodically, and change that outer glove every hour or so. You'll be good to go.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

p.s. If your hands are itching you may have an allergy to the type of glove you're using. It's also possible you are allergic to whatever chemical their using in the lab, although I'd suspect you'd also be tearing up and getting the runny nose thing if that's the case.

 

[christina30]

I also concur. I started the double-glove routine and never looked back. I used nitrile. You'll notice that some people say their hands don't smell after lab. Watch these people and you'll see they don't get down and dirty with their hands as much as you do. Once you get a layer of cadaver slime on your hands it permeates the gloves pretty fast. So keep paper towels around and wipe your gloved hands down periodically, and change that outer glove every hour or so. You'll be good to go.

Just need to take a moment to tell you that I love your Robert Goulet avatar

"why you let these hooligans tear down the biz?"

Back on topic: I use nitrile, don't double-glove, and I don't find that my hands smell after lab. And no, I'm not standing off to the side avoiding the dirty work - I'm elbow-deep in that motherf-er

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Just need to take a moment to tell you that I love your Robert Goulet avatar

"why you let these hooligans tear down the biz?"

Back on topic: I use nitrile, don't double-glove, and I don't find that my hands smell after lab. And no, I'm not standing off to the side avoiding the dirty work - I'm elbow-deep in that motherf-er

Gouuuulet! The true OG. That baby is a timeless classic. I think it's been up since '05 come to think of it.

Anyway, that's pretty interesting. I guess I stereotyped you non-smellers. My evidence was purely anecdotal.