formaldehyde

[mdgal]

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Ive been having a hard time dealing with the cadavers b/c of the starong smelll of the formaldehyde that is used to soak the bodies. I have watery eyes and they also stink. i can't even open my eyes properly let alone do any dissections.
are there any tips to deal with this? could i be allergic. i have no history of allergies or asthma of any sort. plzzz help!

 

[Law2Doc]

Ive been having a hard time dealing with the cadavers b/c of the starong smelll of the formaldehyde that is used to soak the bodies. I have watery eyes and they also stink. i can't even open my eyes properly let alone do any dissections.
are there any tips to deal with this? could i be allergic. i have no history of allergies or asthma of any sort. plzzz help!

I assume you mean your eyes sting, not stink. I suspect some sort of goggles would work. But they would need an awfully good seal.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

You could wear a surgical mask. Or maybe switch dissecting groups -- there's a bit of variability in the 'strongness' of the smell. And wash your hands/face after lab. Why are you just starting Gross, by the way?

 

[Pyroclast]

I was going to say, it's mid-May. Are you just starting Gross? I'd assume you've been dealing with it pretty well if it's the end of the semester. Sorry, I don't have any practical advice. Some people put a dab of Vicks under their nose to deal with the smell, but I've never seen anyone try goggles. Most people eventually get used to it.

My biggest problem with gross lab was that the smell, however disgusting, had me starving by the end of 3 hours. Does anyone know if formaldehyde triggers a release of NPY in the brain or something? I expected *someone* to toss their cookies the first day, but most of us couldn't get to lunch fast enough afterwards. Weird.

 

[newbie1kenobi]

Yeah, I remember doing gross anatomy in undergrad, that a lot of us were really hungry after the dissection sessions. A lot of meat eaters among us too.

 

[Rafa]

Latent cannibalistic urges, no doubt.

 

[newbie1kenobi]

Latent cannibalistic urges, no doubt.

This reminds me of a physician-shadowing experience where he kept referring to wounds as "beefy-red."

 

[logos]

We had someone who kept having to leave to vomit for awhile. They mixed some mint smelling stuff in with everyones wetting solution...I guess that helped significantly.

 

[Blade28]

This reminds me of a physician-shadowing experience where he kept referring to wounds as "beefy-red."

Yeah, that's how we commonly describe granulating tissue (that you would see in open abdominal wounds, for example).

Or when you're doing bedside sharp debridement of sacral decubitus ulcers, you want to see beefy red (healthy, granulating) tissue.

 

[newbie1kenobi]

Do you actually write that down in the medical chart, or is there a medical/technical term for it. I know I'll eventually know this in med school, just being curious...

 

[Blade28]

You can use a myriad of words to describe wounds. Well-healed, healthy pink granulating tissue, beefy red, fibrinous exudate, necrotic tissue, grey and ashen color, purulent drainage, etc.

 

[vtucci]

I found that chewing peppermint gum helped quite a bit with the smell.

 

[basupran]

Not sure if this will help much, but I have heard a touch of vicks vabo rub under the nostrils can do wonders.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Ive been having a hard time dealing with the cadavers b/c of the starong smelll of the formaldehyde that is used to soak the bodies. I have watery eyes and they also stink. i can't even open my eyes properly let alone do any dissections.
are there any tips to deal with this? could i be allergic. i have no history of allergies or asthma of any sort. plzzz help!

Wear the goggles you had to wear in chemistry lab, and don't breathe through your nose (or wear a mask.)

We have a girl that dresses like Darth Vader in class, since she is allergic.

 

[newbie1kenobi]

Oh yes, definitely wear goggles. I got hit once in the eye by a piece of adipose tissue. That formaldehyde stings! 😱

 

[synapse lapse]

Yeah one of our anatomy profs is allergic so he had to wear the full facial gas mask to go into lab. I think getting hungry after anatomy is a common occurance, couldn't tell you why...I mean other than my latent desire to feast on the dead corpses of fellow man and such.

 

[potato51]

.....

 

[logos]

Formaldehyde is a gas. Formalin = this gas dissolved in water. However, we frequently use the words interchangably.

 

[JonnyG]

anatomy lab munchies were killer.........................It was especially disturbing at first to think the first thing I wanted to do after lab was eat.

 

[Brickhouse]

anatomy lab munchies were killer.........................It was especially disturbing at first to think the first thing I wanted to do after lab was eat.

yeah really, what the f was up with that?

 

[logos]

The worst was trying to eat a sandwich right after lab...you get a whiff of it off of your hands every time you try to take a bite.

 

[PTPoeny]

Lemon juice was my lifesaver. Wash your hands in lemon juice and no more sandwich problems. (works for hair too)

I went through so much lemon juice last fall....the checkers at my grocery store probably thought I was crazy

 

[Jedix123]

This could turn into a febreeze commercial.

 

[NY Musicologist]

Uggh--the smell is bad enough--can't imagine having to deal with eye irritation as well. Are you a contact lens wearer? I wonder if non-gas-permeable lenses would help. Or maybe even regular soft contacts...? Maybe you could get some non-corrective (purely cosmetic) ones if you have perfect vision. Just a thought...good luck.