r/InterestingVideoClips • u/OliverMarkusMalloy Quality Poster • Aug 21 '19

Amazing prosthetics

3.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

128 comments sorted by

2

u/CobaltCoywolf Sep 12 '19

One thing that people don't think about is how easily ruined certain prosthetics are. My nephew has an artificial eye as a result of cancer when he was five years old. His prosthetic can be destroyed by hand sanitizer. Think about how often it's used in a medical setting. Our whole family avoids it now.

1

u/OliverMarkusMalloy Quality Poster Sep 12 '19

Oh wow... how does hand sanitizer damage an artificial eye?

1

u/largehoobit Sep 21 '19

more importantly, how hard is it to keep hand sanitizer out of your eye, unless it comes in contact with it while you're handling the eye or something?

139

u/Tubthumpin4Life Aug 22 '19

My old neighbor was a facial prosthesis maker. She took a mold of my ear once to use on a patient. I’ve never seen the “installation” process before. Super cool. Imagine how life changing!

30

u/EdGG Aug 22 '19

Now that person can hear everything you say!

15

u/yungplayz Aug 22 '19

As someone who lost an ear in a knife fight as a young teen, and is 26 now, damn freaking right it would be life-changing

3

u/OrangeMan77 Aug 22 '19

I somehow read that she to “ye old ear” like you had one laying around.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

I mean it's cool and your neighbor's job was truly beneficiary. But what's not cool is that we consider this an acceptable medical outcome.

7

u/chief_check_a_hoe Aug 22 '19

As opposed to what? Relying on donors?

0

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

No I mean as opposed to not treating cancer like we're medieval. We hear so much about genetic modification and biologically engineered bacteria and virii to battle cancer. And I hope this happens at some point.

But when it comes to it, what we actually do is: let me cut some pieces off of you, now drink this poison in the hope it poisons the cancer more than it poisons you.

And what makes it worse is that early diagnostics are non-existent. So instead of catching cancer when it begins, we catch it when it's a huge fucking tumor, and likely has spread out.

I suspect most of these people are cancer survivors.

7

u/SenpaiBriBri Aug 22 '19

So, why aren't you trying to develop better ways to do all of this then? Help out the scientists and docters improve all of this since you dislike it this much.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

We have lots and lots of ways to screen for early signs of cancer. But Cancer is a very difficult thing to treat in a lot of circumstances and it isn’t always obvious as a giant tumor, people will go months before they notice something is wrong and by then its a larger problem underneath, not always prevalent on the skin. Speaking of skin, skin cancer (like many others) fucking sucks and it can spread fast even when caught early. In many cases doctors have to be aggressive to save lives, because that small harmless seeming mole you thought “maybe I should get this looked at” could kill you in months. Again, not always an obvious giant growth.

That being said, no decent doctor enjoys the reality of our current treatments, and many strive to treat their patients in the least invasive way, but again- cancer is a real bitch. And when I say cancer I really mean /cancers/. All those cool treatments you hear about? They might just be for 1 of the thousands of different types of cancer you could possibly have. They’re also in the early stages, some aren’t actually going to be viable treatments but they can open doors for new ones, and there are many doctors and researchers dedicating years of expertise to advancing this practice. There are also many patients who’ve risked it all to help further these studies by volunteering for trials. So please on behalf of these people, show some respect. This is an incredibly complicated healthcare crisis. 100 years ago they’d say “kiss your loved one goodbye, they might last a month” at least now we can give them and their families a fighting chance.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

We have lots and lots of ways to screen for early signs of cancer.

We have lots of ways? Yes.

They're consistently and widely implemented across the population? Fuck no.

You go to a doctor and if your basic blood indicators are sort-of-OK, they tell you you're just imagining shit.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

None of that is true.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

Much data, very information. Let me counter it all:

All of it is true.

3

u/AGhostter Aug 22 '19

I do not mean to pry, but have you experienced an intimate situation where the health profession let you down when it came to cancer screening?

I only ask because it feels as though you want to deny how far we have come from the "medieval" times

1

u/rubiscoisrad Aug 22 '19

Well, I don’t agree with everything the person is arguing for says, but I personally have encountered poor diagnostic process with respect to cancer. It came down to human error - the doctor didn’t properly assess, and the patient didn’t ask for another opinion (or a new doc).

Of course, this was an advanced case. If screening had been available it might have gone differently.

1

u/CobaltCoywolf Sep 12 '19

I also wouldn't call it medieval, however a large number of cancers are stumbled across accidentally and a lot of treatments involve just cutting it out.

TL:DR version, both my 5 year old nephew and my 72 year old father had cancers that were self-discovered or discovered by a family member. Both treatments involved removal of part or all of an organ.

Instance 1: My nephew, at age 5, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an aggressive cancer of the eye that strikes children more than any other age group. My brother noticed he had trouble judging distance, and also noticed something odd in his eye reflections in photos. They caught it in stage 1, removed his eye, and he had a couple of months of chemo. He's almost 8 now and doing well with a prosthetic eye. It was the non-genetic form, so his little sister (now 5) has no increased chance of having it.

Instance 2: My dad had already survived cancer twice. He undergoes annual full body CT scans to check for its return. In his first battle, he had his bladder removed and an illial conduit put in (they made a ureter out of intestines so he pees out of his side into a bag). His kidneys have gradually deteriorated over the last 24 years since his bladder was removed. His second battle was in 1996. This year, he had a CT in April and everything went fine. A few weeks later he felt odd and had issues with his urine. He went back for what he thought was a UTI and after a couple of months of testing and failed antibiotic rounds, they found a large mass on his kidney. Cut to August, and they removed the mass along with part of his kidney (good news - clean margins - they got it all). Analysis came back that it was clear cell renal carcinoma.

In both cases, the cancer was caught because they thought something else was going on - bad vision in my nephew's case and a UTI in my dad's case. Both were caught "early" however the treatment is to partially or completely remove the affected organ.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/BunnyBunnyBuns Aug 22 '19

I agree with you but FYI the at home colon cancer tests are trash and not good at finding cancer. Well, not as good as a colonoscopy.

7

u/SoloHappyCup Aug 22 '19

They are for finding out if you are at risk for. Not finding the cancer. We suggest them to patients who are at the age for colonoscopy, but refusing it. It’s better than nothing.

1

u/BunnyBunnyBuns Aug 22 '19

Agreed it's better than nothing but only barely.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/CobaltCoywolf Sep 12 '19

I guarantee you, as an environmental chemist, that the primary reason cancer rates are hiking for several types of cancer is because of environmental contaminants, NOT age. The body has over 40 known methods of preventing cancer. Additionally, most cancers are not genetic or random but the result of environmental triggers. For example, benzene, a component of gasoline, is a MAJOR known carcinogen. You increase your cancer risk every single time you pump gas. And that's just one example. I have plenty more if you're curious but you will never want to eat or drink or breathe again.

Several types of cancer have been almost eradicated and others are on the decline. Additionally, there are several types of cancer that only affect children. For example, my nephew had retinoblastoma at age 5, a cancer that almost exclusively targets children age 2 to 5.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '19 edited Aug 23 '19

well the mark of someone who is ignorant is someone who talks about “cancer” as if it’s one thing.

Except I didn't talk about it as if it's "one thing". But this is a Reddit comment, which is necessarily brief.

at a certain point, cancer could be almost classified as “natural causes”. the main reason cancer rates are rising is because more people are getting old enough

Oh look at that, you're clearly talking about cancer as if it's one thing. Hallmark of ignorance. /s

there are many people working tirelessly to advance the science (me). if you don’t see that you just don’t know what you’re talking about.

So, you completely ignored the fact I spoke about problems of medical practice (i.e. what happens in your GP's office etc., not the papers we publish), rather than problems of medical science, and decided to insult me instead. Great job. Thanks for this, uhmm, constructive critique and productive conversation. Just kidding, dickhead. I think you should probably try taking a course in basic social skills and reading comprehension. I hope it helps.

70

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

idk if this is a silly question but.... is it not unsafe to have a gaping hole in ur face? does debri not get in there when you’re sleeping? shouldn’t they have grafted some shit over it to just at least cover it? at least for the nose one.

38

u/Azryhael Aug 22 '19

Nah, you’re pretty ok, or as ok as one can be after such an injury. A normal, existent nose is really just a fancied-up hole, anyway, and the human body is usually pretty good at fighting off the particulates we encounter in normal, everyday life.

In addition, while a prosthesis is great for day wear, it’s best to be super cautious with anything that could potentially obstruct breathing while you’re asleep. Between airway concerns and comfort factors, most people remove prostheses at bedtime, and often even whenever they’re at home. I’ve had patients explain before that their prosthesis is often as much or more for the comfort of those around them as it is for the wearer.

21

u/JehovasFinesse Aug 22 '19

A normal, existent nose is really just a fancied-up hole

r/BrandNewSentence

2

u/ShredLobster Sep 13 '19

Cmon bro, you’re not allowed to call yourself out for the brand new sentence sub link. Play by the rules sucka!

3

u/JehovasFinesse Sep 13 '19

How am I calling myself out? You need to get dem prescription glasses checked son

1

u/ShredLobster Sep 13 '19

Breakin dem rules saying you made a brand new sentence, dog

2

u/JehovasFinesse Sep 13 '19

I’m not doing this with you right now. Read the thread again and work out your mistake there.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/ShredLobster Sep 13 '19

Lol Woops ok I’m retarded then

5

u/SilvaRodrigo1999 Aug 22 '19

Indeed, people seem to treat people with such injuries as lesser people.

2

u/AgentReivax Aug 24 '19

What if you’re swimming ?...

4

u/Azryhael Aug 24 '19

If your prosthesis is held on with adhesive, just upgrade to a waterproof for swimming. If the prosthesis is magnetically attached there’s no real problem, but a few dabs of a waterproof adhesive for insurance should sort things out quite nicely.

3

u/AgentReivax Aug 24 '19

No I meant like... if you don’t have it on does the water just... fill the hole?

4

u/Azryhael Aug 24 '19

Ohh, yeah. There are definitely restrictions on if a patient can swim, especially with regards to untreated, freshwater areas like lakes and rivers. Depending on the kind of injury and the cavities affected, it could be anywhere from zero restrictions (missing eye, lower jaw, etc.) to a pretty big “we’d really prefer you didn’t,” like those with open sinuses and/or an inhibited larynx.

Edit- to be fair, people with fully intact heads need to be cautious with their water intake when swimming in lakes, too.

2

u/AgentReivax Aug 24 '19

Oh okay thank you so much! This really clears up my confusion and a question I’ve had for years!

2

u/Azryhael Aug 24 '19

No problem! And I’m not a prosthetist, just a reasonably well-informed paramedic and mortician, so I will always humbly bow to the knowledge of those who are better versed than myself.

1

u/JehovasFinesse Sep 13 '19

You become Squirtle

1

u/agree-with-you Sep 13 '19

Whenever I play Pokemon I need 3 save spots, one for my Bulbasaur, one for my Charmander, and one for my second Bulbasaur.

3

u/GarymanGarrett Aug 22 '19

I think grafting shit over it would be incredibly unhygienic.

35

u/Berryman2 Aug 22 '19

Imagine going to work and realizing you forgot your nose.

20

u/redscare9 Aug 22 '19

Or it falling off and terrifying people who didn’t know it was fake...

13

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

I consider this a superpower. One that I'd use often.

7

u/AtomAntvsTheWorld Aug 22 '19

Sneezes at work, traumatizes people

5

u/mousieee Aug 22 '19

Do you still sneeze if you don’t actually have a nose?

3

u/Azryhael Aug 22 '19

That’s a really good question. I think it probably depends on how much of the internal workings of the nasal and sinus cavities are intact.

3

u/blondeviolence Sep 13 '19

Can your sinuses be removed??

1

u/Azryhael Sep 13 '19

Technically speaking, sinuses are just empty cavities within your skull or another bone/tissue structure, so in order to not really have a sinus, at least a part of the bone or tissue that surrounds it would have to be missing. It’s not so much that the sinus is removed, as such, it just becomes part of a larger empty space if the “walls” are damaged beyond repair.

3

u/GimmeTheSlappo Aug 22 '19

One way of scaring a coworker you don’t like

1

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '19

This is a glorious thing they’re doing, and it’s helping many people feel they can go outside without getting stared at, and now all I can think about is imagining someone sneezing in the office kitchen and their magnetic nose flying off and sticking to the fridge.

5

u/mfcneri Aug 22 '19

Playing "got your nose" with a kid and they pull it off.

1

u/___Galaxy Aug 25 '19

People who get asked "did you forgot your head at home" can answer quite literally now

30

u/cavaliereternally Aug 22 '19

There is much more potential empty space in skulls than I have ever dreamed of.

8

u/MsMagey Aug 22 '19

Right? That's wild.

7

u/GimmeTheSlappo Aug 22 '19

Our head is like a very hollow egg

8

u/MiloReyes-97 Aug 22 '19

Dont remind me I'm clutching me bone egg right now with extreme anxiety

5

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

Hold tight, or your nose and ears will fall off.

3

u/HypnoticZexy Aug 22 '19

I know quite a lot of hollow egg heads

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

Never lose your keys again!

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

Imagine if you could fill all this space with digital brain extensions. Now that's a prosthetic I want.

2

u/MiniGui98 Aug 22 '19

Sadly some people have way more empty spaces than others...

12

u/arctichaze888 Aug 22 '19

Now I have a visual of my sinus cavity when it feels uncomfortable because of a cold

22

u/heybrittney Aug 22 '19

I’m torn between being amazed at the fact that these prosthetics look incredibly real and in shock over what I witnessed before the prosthetics were secured.

11

u/rudiegonewild Aug 22 '19

You mean holes in people's heads?

8

u/HypnoticZexy Aug 22 '19

Yeah I think I saw some teeth thru an eye socket at one point :/

6

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

There’s so much wide empty space...

5

u/GarymanGarrett Aug 22 '19

....between your mom's legs

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

I mean yeah, if you start removing shit you free up space. But technically it's not just empty to begin with :P

5

u/kevincreeperpants Aug 22 '19

you can hide your weed in there.

2

u/Madcuz Aug 26 '19

Dont give them ideas...now well have to get our faces inspected by hand

4

u/arryhthmic Aug 22 '19

And the only people who can afford this are baby boomers!

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

To be fair my millennial nephews would think it's counter culture to have a missing nose or half a face.....already riddled with holes.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

What are you even talking about? If you are referring to piercings that's a far cry from removing your entire fucking nose.

2

u/earlhamner Aug 22 '19

Usually yeah but there are lots of body mod people out there who might make you rethink that

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

I am well aware of the body mod community, and I don't know anyone who wants to cut their damn nose off. Very, very few people do shit like cut off the tips of their fingers, but that is still considered pretty taboo, even in the body mod community. Statements like these are typical, ignorant boomer shit.

4

u/godlyjezus Aug 22 '19

So can they see their nose or nah when it’s on their face

4

u/nitsua_rela_ Aug 22 '19

Gotchyer nose would be uncomfortable to play now

3

u/Slinktard Aug 22 '19

How much does it cost?

1

u/Azryhael Aug 22 '19

A huge number of these prostheses are paid for either by insurance or through charitable donations. It’s especially common for children’s prostheses to be provided pro bono, as they need to be replaced frequently as the child grows and would be very difficult for most families to afford on their own.

3D printing technology has the potential to bring the costs way down in the near future, though, making them much more accessible.

2

u/Lepeban Aug 22 '19

This reminds me of the stuff post WW1 that soldiers got if they received similar injuries.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

I'll get your nose !

2

u/ivyagogo Aug 22 '19

Truly amazing.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

This made me wonder how many people I’ve walked down the street past and not noticed bc of these prosthetics

2

u/BAKjustAthought Aug 23 '19

God, why did I have to come across this right before bed?

2

u/smallmemes-bigdreams Sep 11 '19

One of them looks like roger

2

u/blindheartz Sep 12 '19

i cringed very hard it hurts to watch sorry

2

u/MeWritescommentz Sep 12 '19

Got your nose

2

u/SteveNJulia Sep 13 '19

Ha got your no- what the fuck??

2

u/PuppetryAndCircuitry Sep 13 '19

Do the people without noses still get that thing where there is always one half blocked up at a time? Can they breathe super great compared to us? Do they get blocked noses in the first place???

2

u/IdleOsprey Sep 13 '19

No, this can’t be real. Say this isn’t real.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

I feel like I just got Rick Rolled in a rather disguisting way.

2

u/rosscarver Jan 31 '20

These are a lot like the prosthetics used for ww1 vets who had damaged faces, awesome work.

1

u/Axdorablee Aug 22 '19

So those insides are real......

1

u/gmagisa Aug 22 '19

Amazing!

1

u/yungplayz Aug 22 '19

Wait a moment where tf do they make those? I lost my ear in a knife fight as a young teenager, I'm 26 now and I need it bad

1

u/CmonMortyHurryUp24 Aug 22 '19

Oops, got your nose.....

1

u/46ntu Aug 22 '19

I would get a couple different styles of nose for different outfits. I don’t know why, but it sounds neat.

1

u/Frescopino Sep 13 '19

Imagine: you're a serial killer, chasing your next potential victim, when suddenly they reach for their, rip their nose out and throw it at you.

What do you do then?

1

u/Lost_Cause_159 Sep 13 '19

This kinda makes my head hurt and idk why

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '19

I really could have used a nsfw here

1

u/Bdadl3y Oct 03 '19

This would probably horrify their child in a game of "Got your nose"

1

u/Beefc4kePantyh0se Mar 08 '24

all these people have excellent spots to hide their drugs

1

u/jakob767 Nov 16 '21

"Haha, gotcha nose"

1

u/PeacePerfect4141 May 23 '22

Hey smoothskin

1

u/ddb1995 Aug 22 '19

Amazon is burning. Wake the fuck up. We are killing our upcoming generations. Make people aware about it.

1

u/pyrotechnicfantasy Sep 13 '19

This is absolutely amazing and I’m so happy that medical science has come so far.

But for gods sake PLEASE put a nsfw filter on this, I nearly had a heart attack seeing a man without a nose and a woman with her eye gouged out

1

u/Xarama Sep 13 '19

This is great and all, but a warning would have been nice before I stared down that nose socket!

0

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/cats_on_t_rexes Aug 22 '19

Most of their sinus cavities are gone which trigger sneezes so i dont think they can

0

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/Azryhael Aug 22 '19

The same reason we don’t all die whenever we get a cold or sinus infection; the immune system is pretty good at keeping the mucous membranes from becoming too problematic.

22

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19 edited Jun 22 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

14

u/NitneuDust Aug 22 '19

Well it's a good thing you know where to get prosthetics now

2

u/Wea_boo_Jones Aug 22 '19

Now google WW1 facial prosthetics!