Xrays

Xray of hand ap and at an angle.

A pet peeve. I watch quite a few programmes where people have to have xrays. I think the worst thing is when the xray is presented the wrong way up or back to front, or worse still when the image is of a different part of the body!

Sometimes I just laugh, but when it’s a life or death situation I wish the film makers would make a bit more of an effort!

Why do I know this? I did a course years ago. Being an artist helped me identify things that no one else noticed. I could see things like buttons in a stomach or a comb in a pocket…. And other more “unusual” images, ahem…

Broken bones

Have you ever broken a bone?

Yes, but not saying which ones. It took them a while to heal. All were caused by various types of fall.

Broken bones in young people can cause greenstick fractures, that’s when the bone is broken like a soft twig and can be reset. Simple clean breaks are manipulated back into place then held in place with plaster of paris bandages. Some breaks, like a broken finger can’t be plastered but are just strapped up. Broken ribs cannot be plastered so it’s just painkillers and sometimes strapping? The worst break can be a compound fracture where the bone penetrates the skin. This will require some form of surgery with pins or even plates to hold the bones back in place. Then there are skull fractures that require operations to fix bones back in place. Sometimes pe have plates put in their head if the bone of the skull becomes necrotic. XRays and other types of imaging can be used to locate and realign bony damage.