All the News That’s Fit: Sticky situations, baffling baby advice and Superman stretches

May 21, 2024

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Is the idiomatic suggestion that it’s best to “rip off a Band-Aid” actually good advice? Is one quick “OUCH!” better than a series of smaller “ows”?

Researchers in Australia recruited 65 students to determine which bandage removal approach was less painful: quick or slow. Using an 11-point pain scale (0 for no pain, 10 for extreme pain), the students who yanked off their bandages quickly reported an average 0.02 pain score. For those who peeled off their bandages slowly (over two seconds), the average score was 1.58.

Researchers tested the approaches on different parts of the body. Location did not matter, but body hair was a factor. Persons with lower body hair counts tended to report less significant discomfort.

The study did not account for variables like skin tenderness or the varying adhesive strength of different bandage types. Nor did the study answer whether ripping quickly or slowly worked for other kinds of physical or emotional pain, like romantic breakups.

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Each hour, the human body creates 350,000 joules of energy, which creates the same amount of power as a 100-watt lightbulb. This is enough heat to boil a half gallon of water in 30 minutes.

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Every generation of parents has its own set of tips and advice for how to do the job right. Here are seven that circulated in the 1800s:

1. Put babies in cages hanging outside windows to get them fresh air.

2. Snacks between meals shouldn’t be more than a slice of bread.

3. Get rid of tapeworms with turpentine.

4. Avoid giving green tea to adolescents (which was believed to contain toxins).

5. Avoid anything green, including toys and clothing. That was for good reason, in this case, because green dyes at the time contained arsenic.

6. Lance baby’s gums when their first teeth are emerging. (It was thought that cutting a little hole helped speed the process of teething.)

7. Don’t rock kids to soothe them. In this case, the benefit was for the mom. Rocking in chairs was believed to damage women’s figures.

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Scotophobia — With a capital S, it’s a fear or intense aversion toward Scotland (but hopefully not Scotts). With a small s, scotophoba is a fear or dislike of the dark. Heaven help you if you suffer the condition and find yourself in Scotland at night.

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This week in 1747, an experiment to remedy scurvy among sailors was conducted by British ship’s surgeon James Lind on the HMS Salisbury. He regulated the diets of the sailors, and especially included lemons and oranges. Positive results quickly showed that scurvy, and the huge numbers of related sailor deaths, could be easily remedied by providing sufficient dietary intake of vitamin C.

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There are thousands of exercises and you’ve only got one body, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try them all: Supermans are intended to strengthen and benefit the back, butt, hips and shoulders.

Step 1: Lie prone (on your stomach) on a mat with your legs extended, ankles slightly plantarflexed (toes pointing away from your shins), arms extended overhead with palms facing each other. Relax your head to align it with your spine.

Step 2: Exhale, contract your abdominal and core muscles to stabilize your spine and slowly extend both hips (raise both legs) a few inches off the floor while simultaneously raising both arms a few inches off the floor. Keep both legs and arms extended and avoiding any rotation in each. Maintain your head and torso position, avoiding any arching in your back or raising of your head. Hold this position briefly.

Step 3: Gently inhale and lower your legs and arms back toward your starting position without any movement in your low back or hips.

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A person’s normal body temperature isn’t necessarily 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That number is based on some research conducted by a German physician in the mid-19th century and has sort of stuck as a general rule.

In fact, individual normal body temperatures can range between 97 degrees and 99 degrees. One study found that only 8 percent of 700 individual readings of 148 adults recorded the expected 98.6 degrees.

“SOONER BORN, SOONER BRED AND NOW I’M SOONER DEAD.”

Headstone of Michael Duane Batterson (1946-2005), who was born and lived his entire 59 years in Tulsa, Okla.

LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.