8 Mildly Offensive Medical Terms 

No this is so good, just finished my 3rd year OSCE and found this hilarious 😂😂

The worst and most offensive medical term I've ever heard is micro penis.

Presumably not Norfolk, and what may be normal for there. Which always amused me given I'm originally from Suffolk, and those Northerners are the ancient enemy. I keep hearing rumors of tribes beyond East Anglia, but suspect those are just rumors.

Oh, this reminds me of when you broke down medical terms in songs! ☺️😁

That you need to not be so sensitive? Or sensitive in a different way? As a patient I would like these terms _for signs_ - they are fun and memorable. Which is very different from when a medical professional applies the sign or diagnosis to the whole person. I wouldn't mind being the nice lady with the moonface and the clawhand...

What were the brown and cream ones? I remember those, but can't remember what each were for

I dont know the colors, but I have heard of a inhaler being called a puffer before too

Me2! i have asthma I remember the pink one is for patient that always breathe uncomfortable and the blue one is for patient that sometimes breathe uncomfortable

let me guess. Blue puffer was Ventolin (salbutamol) and Fostair (Beclometasone/Formoterol) was the pink.

I have blue which is albuterol and orange is the actual medicine but don’t have or need that one

Whoa i didnt know it could bloat your neck..

Oh yes! My “geriatric pregnancy” at 40 was hilarious to me 🤣

🤣🤣🤣🤣

@@danaeddins5590 Yeah, I got that one with my 2nd, lol

In physical therapy, its also completely normal to have your first backpain episode from the age of 20.... Great xD

that depends on which werewolf etomology you're drawing from

When there are patients with a”moon face” around, every day is a full moon day 😜 *finger guns*

@@bubblycider I love it

you are everywhere

That’s not the same thing. Unless you’re implying you should be able to insult people and get away with it. And I’m fine with being called crippled, it doesn’t mean I can’t do almost anything anyway, just that it’s harder!

Yeah, the thing is that crippled, cretin and mentally retarded all used to be COMPLETELY normal (as much as could be said of any 'of the times' vocab) and were used initially without intending insult. Crippled was just disabled/handicapped, cretins suffered from cretinism, which is physical or mental disabilities due to extreme thyroid deficiencies. They've fallen out of usage as a result of using cripple/cretin/retard as outright insults in reference to someone *who resembles* having these disorders, so as a way to increase patient comfort and divert stigma away from a diagnosis, the medical community chaged what they call things.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't think that if you had the condition yourself. But yes, it could have been worse.

I agree, especially with pink puffer and blue bloater. They wouldn't be appropriate to give as a diagnosis but they make a lot of sense as memory aids for students. They have the alliteration, and they show you the link between which symptoms most often go together.

Nah, as a patient I would like to hear these terms. They are quirky and fun. Important thing is that these are terms for signs, not people. (The puffer/bloater is a bit into person-territory, so more problematic. But these too could be used in discussing what is going on.)

Sometimes that makes it into anatomy too. The "arachnoid membrane" is one of the layers surrounding your brain. It reminded early anatomy of spider cobwebs. There are other such things too in x-ray images. The "dog sign" or "scotty dog" is a collection of structures in the spine when imaged at an angle. If its disturbed, that indicates a fracture. The "halo sign" for lung infections on CT scans. There are lots of structures named for their appearance that help communication in the clinic, but look completely random for people outside of the field.

@@HexerPsy my favourite of those is "pes anserinus", which just means goose foot. It's the common attachments of 3 tendons in the medial side of the knee

@@Asptuber if you are not a patient yourself, my advice would be to not say you would like to hear these terms about you. Even if they are about signs and not you as a person, struggling with health (especially when it's chronic) can make it hard not to identify yourself with said terms and take it personally.

I just want Sumerian terms. Something a bit more interesting.

@@InvisiblerApple yeah but then you throw in the Necronomicon and medicine gets weirder REAL quick.

Are you okay?

There's a gene, SHH, which encodes a protein called Sonic Hedgehog. The gene was initially identified in Drosophila fruit flies, where it was found to be responsible for body segmentation. Fruit flies lacking this gene had embryos that appeared all spiky, like a hedgehog, leading to the initial designation (hh) of hedgehog. Scientists began further research into a vertebrate equivalent of this gene, and several were identified and named after various species of hedgehog. SHH in particular was named by a postdoc researching the gene who came home to a magazine containing an ad for a Sonic the Hedgehog and thought it would be a funny name. Anyway, loss of SHH was later implicated in a condition called holoprosencephaly, in which the left and right halves of the brain do not separate correctly. This can lead to severe fetal disfigurement, cyclopia (essentially a single central eye) and even fetal death. Imagine being a doctor, trying to explain the cause of a spontaneous abortion or stillbirth, telling a mother that Sonic Hedgehog was the cause...

@@wol_ves this is a great comment xD

@@Aphelia.

In that case I'm very happy you are not in that position. Reading this comment section is quite painful for me, having personal experience with some of the terms and their effects on dealing with chronic disease. And having strong friendships with other people struggling with stigmas and feelings of shame. I get that it can give a chuckle if you're not familiar with health issues, amd that those terms don't sound that bad to you. But I hope more people here can consider the feelings of others who are living with health conditions every day.

🙁

Yikes.

Please explain?

@@feb5th Or you could search for it for, behold, you are on the internet!!

@@feb5th ofc I can! Short version; the term "Asperger's" comes from the Austrian physician Dr Asperger who worked with the nazi party under the third riech, for years seen as a pioneer for autism but the truth is his works and experiments determined who died and who lived which ties in with the terms of "high or low functioning". Those who were deemed high functioning were saved from death. Those who were low functioning were sentenced to death as they served no purpose for the aryan race. It was part of their ethnic cleansing programme. Many autistic people died under the third riech.

@@xxmysterygirl101xx thank you, I wasn't aware of that specific history yet... This is a good example about terms and diagnoses being updated to modern standards, as the term Asperger's is no longer in the books and replaced (together with other terms) by Autism Spectrum Syndrome. Although I believe not everyone dealing with autism is happy about that.

I feel you 🙏

I thought of more: "Sketch dog/cat". Not really used near owners, but if you happen to hear one technician tell another technician that you have a "sketch animal", know that that's a nicer way of saying "The patient isn't being aggressive at the moment, but they have a history of fear-aggression/protective-aggression and may need a 'party hat'" "Party Hat" is a euphemism for basket muzzle or cat muzzle. Most good vet hospitals have phased out the regular cloth muzzle that clamps the patient's mouth shut, because those can cause unneeded stress in them. Basket muzzles have plenty of holes for air and enough space in them for dogs to pant, bark, and eat peanut butter that's smeared on the inside as a distraction. The only thing they can't do is bite(although they can certainly try and end up smacking the hard plastic muzzle into your face if you're not careful). A cat muzzle is less of a muzzle and more of a pointy Ye Olde Knight's helmet. Same principal as a basket muzzle, they can still scream and breathe, but usually no snacks are used because cats are less likely to eat when stressed. Another difference is that it covers the cat's eyes, and a lot of cats are calmer if they can't see what's happening to them. Sometimes if we have a gentle cat that is just hiding a lot and we need to get a blood draw or x-rays, I'll slip a cat muzzle on them right before taking them out of their hiding spot so that they still think they're hidden. So, a "party hat" isn't necessarily a bad experience for the animal, and needing a muzzle as a distraction or "hiding spot" doesn't necessarily mean the animal is aggressive.

Don't listen to any of their live stuff lately; his voice has gone wild

@@DrHopeSickNotes Thanks for the tip, i prefer studio versions anyway. Have a goodone.

Yeh it's a fair point Maggie. Also EDS not fun, hope you are in good health.

@@DrHopeSickNotes I actually just had a scare that I may need a wheelchair already. XD (something I didn't expect for another 5-10 years), but we're going to try some changes to my physical therapy program and see if that works. It also occurs to me that it would be very helpful for med students if we made disease names more straightforward. I was studying to become a medical assistant and man, in disease and pathology, "moon face" and "alien hand syndrome" were a blessing and easy to memorize in a book filled with Epstein-Barrs, Addisons, and Kleinfelters. It's a tough line to dance around because on the one hand, I'D prefer humorous names that help me make light of a dark situation, but I know many others who would feel self-conciousness or ashamed by what is often a very personal and upsetting matter. I should probably not be in charge of naming medical illnesses. 😆

i call it bendy-straw syndrome bcs that's how i feel everyday with eds

Yeah so many issues start to arise 35 and up in pregnancy.

Was thinking the same. Technically, it did originate in monkeys. But it can lead to very nasty jokes indeed. I'm happy Ed mentioned Covid at the end, it was upsetting for how long my country and people around me kept calling it wuhanvirus, and later *instert country*-variant.

Actually, I'd love for Dr Hope to do a breakdown of Amateur Transplants' music

That still doesn't make it nice to being called like them. And the fact that the terms are so dated justifies making some necessary changes.

Thanks for this comment 🙏 I'm reading a lot of comments saying they didn't mind these terms and thought they are discriptive and light. But I wonder if those people have any personal experience, because having to endure being called these terms for years really makes them a lot less fun. It's like hearing the same joke about your name or skin color, except it concerns something you may already be struggling with on a daily basis.

@@newtrebel exactly! Wish you the best!

You could also argue that having a search engine in your pocket means we can finally refrain from using offensive terms for people that are already struggling with their health, connected stigmas and feelings of humiliation. They don't neccessarily have to become technical and inaccessible, just call them for what it is that's happening, or name it after a doctor or scientist who made discoveries about it. Nobody has problems remembering Crohn's disease, imagine if it was called chronic diarrhea syndrome or something...

WTF?! Yeh more likely in the medical law book rather than the medical textbook

Wow. That goes against all medical codes.

he is super

I am getting on a bit

I agree they should be easy to remember. They don't necessarily have to be more technical thougn, like conditions named after a person who made discoveries about it. A lot of these terms don't immediately look like what they look. From personal experience I can tell it can be very hard to deal with names like these. It can increase stigmas and promote painful jokes (that get repeated to you all the time) and make dealing with a health condition that much harder.

@@newtrebel I feel like if the medical condition has a name like these and someone's using the correct name to make fun of me, I can chose to take ownership of it and not let it bother me. But I find most mocking souls are just observing stuff and spouting off rude and pathetic comments without any knowledge of what they are making fun of. And they'll do that regardless of what name the disease has (the name of which they might not even know). I can see it being more of a problem for kids though.