September 9, 2009
www.phantomlimb.com is available for purchase

Sometimes I check whether an interesting topic or phrase already has its own namesake website. This is partly how I found greenerie.com. It’s surprising how much prime web territory is still unclaimed! For example, there might be some angsty emo-punk band out there called “Phantom Limb” and they are seriously missing out on cyber-staking their claim to that virtual-real-estate. Hopefully their lead-singer moonlights as a computer-geek, and can hack together an enticing website.

Regardless, this is a post about phantom limbs, not dweeby website-hunting.

Today’s learning objectives at school were all about pain, and specifically such bizarro phenomenon as phantom limb pain. Surprisingly, this ClevelandClinic description isn’t very impressive. Don’t take my word for it, but it’s a really oversimplified summary… or maybe rather, we went into tooooo much detail today. Probably both.

NOW, I know that you can have such creepy pains without ever undergoing amputation, and that these painful&invisible hands and feet can eventually feel like they are sticking DIRECTLY out of your surgical stump, also known as telescoping. SO SAD! By the way, I think there should be a more sophisticated term for the surgical site rather than stump. I mean, we say “incision” for CUT, and “hematoma” for BRUISE. Why not dress up STUMP, too?

You might also be interested in bidding on www.telescoping.com, which is currently available. Oh, the possibilities!

August 25, 2009
Cocaine —> Modern dentistry

Last night, after complaining about my lack of intrinsic motivation to study, I was determined to read about the most dental-relevant topic in pharmacology: local anesthetics. I think my quiet prayers to get quickly fascinated by what we are learning were heard, because I learned at least 5 fun new things from this chapter, and enjoyed nearly every minute of it:

1. Pain is incredibly protective, and it seems strange how strongly humans avoid this important security-system mechanism. It’s really just your body screaming, “TISSUE DAMAGE ALERT! STOP NOW or SEEK HELP!”. My thickly-calloused big toes are so smart - good luck hurting those bad boys. Thoroughly protected; never ouchy.

2. Inevitably, this idea sparked a meandering set of “i-wonder-if”  questions about whether there exists a utility of emotional pain, analogous to the warning-system of physical pain. Should we respond to heartache with the same aversion as we do physical pain? Is that even possible?

3. I can now say that I have a high nociceptor threshold. Or, at least I can say that until I give birth one day and realize that having lots of ear-piercings doesn’t count as acquired pain tolerance.

4. Cocaine is apparently the only naturally occurring local anesthetic. Really?! Given all the weird venoms, slimes, and mind-warping compounds that have evolved in the natural world, not a single other animal or plant came up with that same defensive strategy? I don’t buy it. Something else must be out there.

5. Without our current synthetic cocaine-esque derivatives, modern dentistry would not exist. Thank you, early coca-shrub enthusiasts and purifiers!

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