Feeling lightheaded

[DDS2BE]

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Alright guys, I hate to admit it but as I was watching Tonsillectomy video, I felt very lightheaded and it did get me freaked out. I’ve observed various surgical procedures in person and never felt this way. But this stupid video from a web site really got me worried!!! Now, I hate myself for even watching it! Why now???? My dental school starts in 6 months!!! I was in the car accident 3 years ago. Our car flipped over several times off the freeway and I ended up holing down my friend’s artery to prevent excessive bleeding… I was literally covered with blood and didn’t even feel close to what I’ve felt while watching that tonsil removing video.

 

[ItsGavinC]

No big deal. Doing procedures is different from merely watching them.

 

[UDM or bust]

that video was awesome - i've had my tonsils and adenoids removed when i was little and always wanted to know what it looked like when you did it - that was so cool. i had tubes put in my ears several times too and i always wanted to know how that looked - thanks for that website!

 

[QCkid]

Alright guys, I hate to admit it but as I was watching Tonsillectomy video, I felt very lightheaded and it did get me freaked out. I’ve observed various surgical procedures in person and never felt this way. But this stupid video from a web site really got me worried!!! Now, I hate myself for even watching it! Why now???? My dental school starts in 6 months!!! I was in the car accident 3 years ago. Our car flipped over several times off the freeway and I ended up holing down my friend’s artery to prevent excessive bleeding… I was literally covered with blood and didn’t even feel close to what I’ve felt while watching that tonsil removing video.

I wouldn't worry that much. You get used to it. At my first anatomy lab, the instructor kept touching herself with the metal probe that she had just stuck into the cadaver (it had cadaver goo on it). She ended up flicking the stuff on me. That combined with the smell of formaldehyde made me just want to go home and take a shower.

The next day we were in their at the same time as the med students who had started anatomy lab a couple of months before us and they seemed to be pretty comfortable with all the sights and smells. They were disecting and manipulating body parts with one hand and eating Big Macs with the other!

 

[TucsonDDS]

I have been a nurse now for 10 years and I still get a little light headed every now and then. It is always when I am just assisting with something or watching something though. It happens when I have a chance to think about what is being done. I don't ever get light headed when I am doing the procedure. 6 hrs ago I was doing compressions on a 12 year old who decided to up and die on me (V-Fib and apneic) and I was fine. Luckily we got him back and sent him to the ICU.

One time I was listening to a doctor talk about a radical neck that they were going to do to my grandma and I damn near passed out. It is a lot worse when it is your family.

 

[DDS2BE]

Thank you guys for replies. I guess watching someone getting hurt or bleed is not a common thing and getting lightheaded is a natural response.


TucsonDDS, I would have the same kind of response if anything would have happened to my family members. One thing I've noticed, if I see someone from my family getting even a small cut then I get this chills going down my spine and kinnda fill "the pain"... not a pleasant feeling. But, on the other hand, it this happens to a stranger or a co-worker, I won't feel a thing. Weird...

 

[denty]

I volunteer at a clinic and have seen many things but this one extraction the student was performing was taking way too long and with way too much blood, I really got lightheaded and had to sit down for awhile. it freaked me out cause I thought for a moment that I wasnt strong enough to go into dentistry. but after talking to the assistants they tell me it happens a lot. so the important thing I learned is eat before you work, so you wont get lightheaded.

 

[onetoothleft]

I think most people would get queezy watching a video like this, but once we see it a few times we will objectify it so that it doesn't bother us so much.

 

[KY2007]

Not to mention that general dentistry does not envolve much blood and guts. Drill and fill baby!

P.S. What is address to this website

 

[Qbankungfumasta]

Thank you guys for replies. I guess watching someone getting hurt or bleed is not a common thing and getting lightheaded is a natural response.


TucsonDDS, I would have the same kind of response if anything would have happened to my family members. One thing I've noticed, if I see someone from my family getting even a small cut then I get this chills going down my spine and kinnda fill "the pain"... not a pleasant feeling. But, on the other hand, it this happens to a stranger or a co-worker, I won't feel a thing. Weird...

I think i almost fainted my first 20 exo's plus my first anesthesia...125 surgeries later, i know that i need to eat a lot before i do anything in surgery...well not so much anymore, i got used to all the flapping and grinding bone.
hang in there, you'll get used to it.

Temple School of Dentistry
Class of...wait...2005!!!!!!!!!

 

[JohnDoeDDS]

what is that yellow thing the doc uses at the end that turns everything a different color? Is that some sort of suction that helps the blood clot or something?

 

[jdcinza13]

I think it was used to cauterize the area...I could be wrong though, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[DDS2BE]

I think it was used to cauterize the area...I could be wrong though, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Wouldn’t it leave a hard crust on the surface of a treated tissue?

 

[jdcinza13]

Wouldn’t it leave a hard crust on the surface of a treated tissue?

It may leave a hard crust on it, but only for a short time. I believe all you are trying to do is stop the bleeding, and during the healing process, it will be broken down and replaced by other soft tissue. That's just my guess though.

 

[rrc]

I think it was used to cauterize the area...I could be wrong though, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

It's a suction cautery. Cautery does not work well in an area of heavy bleeding. Thus, this instrument both suctions and cauterizes at the same time. The lumen of it contains the vacuum while the periphery has a small metal sleeve on it which conducts the current.

 

[heyitscyndi]

I posted a thread along these same lines in the pre-dent forum a couple months ago, DDS2BE. It was my first time shadowing an oral surgeon and I had never watched anyone be put to sleep with IV sedation before. The dental work didn't bother me at all, but with all the commotion and needles flying around I had to leave the room. Looking back it was just fear of the unknown, I didn't know what to expect. To make it worse, the kid getting his wisdom teeth removed was scared out of his mind. lol. But don't worry, some things just take some getting used to!