Should You Remove Your Own Organs?
Sometimes I Google things just so you won’t have to. Usually, I regret it. Why did the topic “DIY surgery” pop into what’s left of my brain? Possibly because I’ve written nearly 500 columns and subject matter is getting a bit thin these days. Multiple head injuries related to 70s-era football helmets could also be a factor.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of videos related to self-surgery on YouTube. There’s even one showing you how to perform an appendectomy. While I only viewed a few, I scrolled through many and I was amazed at the similarities.
By a ratio of nearly 20:1, either surgeon, or patient, or both, are male. The only exceptions I could find were related to cosmetic surgery. In those cases, women rule the reel and tend to be quite brave/stupid when it comes to slicing each other up. There were also a lot of obviously fake videos by goofy teens trying to tease up followers on their channel. None were very entertaining.
Cyst removal seems to dominate the world of shade-tree surgeons, closely followed by ingrown toenails. I suspect that these two procedures are so popular because both conditions are so annoying and seemingly easy to treat. From seeing the results, I can confidently say that failures outnumber successes.
Perhaps all these videos are an indictment of our healthcare system. The jury’s out on that, but I can say that none I saw gave that as a reason, and most of the folks seemed to be really enjoying themselves… up to a point.
I recommend that you don’t look this stuff up, let alone attempt any of the procedures. If despite my advice, you wish to explore this field, I suggest you start with a zit or maybe a wood splinter before attempting organ removal.
