Comments on: What is this bizarre Indian "health gadget" from 1950s Bombay?

By: Peter Hoh

Peter Hoh — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Autocorrect error: it was made of steel and bakelite, not steel and backlit.

By: Sabocat

Sabocat — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:31:00 +0000

I guess I didn’t HAVE to click.

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 04:12:00 +0000

High tech booger lighter upper.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 02:35:00 +0000

Apologies.

By: Vernon Zimmerman

Vernon Zimmerman — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 02:29:00 +0000

It would appear, in my professional opinion, to be two lights on a stick…

By: Sabocat

Sabocat — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 01:35:00 +0000

I hate you so much.

By: Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:24:00 +0000

You spoiled my joke, damn you.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:09:00 +0000

I, on the other hand, have to blot every 15 minutes.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:54:00 +0000

It looks like an electric “shocker”, only with one in the pink instead of two.

By: t3kna2007

t3kna2007 — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:39:00 +0000

“Another classical case of .. zit-popping.” +1 for plain speaking in a medical context.

By: kmoser

kmoser — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:32:00 +0000

Sounds like an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:15:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Comedone-Extractor-Lancet-blackhead-whitehead-Extractor-made/dp/B0013BQHW0

Help dad help himself… and it would make an excellent stocking stuffer. ;^)

By: Artor

Artor — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:44:00 +0000

My dad has a single, enormous blackhead on his eyebrow. It looks like he was stabbed with a pencil and the lead broken off in his skin. The blackhead is older than my teenage kid. I have a hard time talking to him without reaching over & giving it a hard squeeze.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:34:00 +0000

I watched several of these in a row; it was fascinating, like watching a snake charming performance. I simply had no idea that blackheads could get that large on a human being, or have so much sebum packed in behind them. My skin tends to be dry, always has been. After about an hour of those videos, I walked quickly to the bathroom and just stared at my face, fingers searching every inch, ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall… tell me I’m the most zit-free of all?!’ As I said, ‘Aaaaaiiiiiigh’.

I go to see a gal every three or four months for a facial. She told me she got into that profession because she loooooves to clean out clogged pores. I’ve since found new respect for her skill set.

By: Artor

Artor — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:23:00 +0000

I used to do that with a paperclip when I was a greasy teenager. It’s amazing to see the sebum oozing out of your skin like a crop of earthworms. It’s pretty gross, but you feel alot cleaner once your pores are empty again. There’s something creepily satisfying about squeezing zits.

By: PhosPhorious

PhosPhorious — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Well. . . it’s a TWIN Transilluminator. So, whatever it does. . . it’s doing it twice.

By: Lilah

Lilah — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Hit the nail on the head. The pictures make it pretty clear. Though it’s interesting that they make the poor lady put the whole thing in her mouth to transilluminate the maxillary sinuses. We are taught to place the light outside toward the sinus and then look in the mouth for the light, not the other way round.

By: tomrigid

tomrigid — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Proto-rabbit.

By: Jorpho

Jorpho — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I like how http://boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/fredphelps.png is currently coming up underneath the story, as if to say, “If you look like this, you may need transillumination!” (Or “may have already had transillumination!”, perhaps.)

By: OldBrownSquirrel

OldBrownSquirrel — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:59:00 +0000

This. I’ve had a doctor use an otoscope on my maxillary sinuses for this purpose. Hey, it was handy.

By: michela ashlyn

michela ashlyn — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:59:00 +0000

I think perhaps it is not a bizarre health gadget, but a slightly more convenient diagnostic tool… In med school, you are taught how to illuminate the sinuses by shining a penlight under the orbital walls of the eyes, in the mouth, cheeks, etc. This device seems to try to make that easier so you can directly compare size/illumination of multiple areas simultaneously. You can also check pupillary reaction (though there is a greater need to illuminate one pupil at a time rather than both simultaneously- perhaps not the case in medicine when this was made) and can likely aid in estimating the depth of the anterior chambers of the eye. It seems like it is a glorified double penlight!

By: DreamboatSkanky

DreamboatSkanky — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:34:00 +0000

The Esler was industry standard for transilluminating your twin. What they don't tell you is, do not use on a triplet. I'm gonna miss that guy.

By: Meredith L Patterson

Meredith L Patterson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:32:00 +0000

Also they’re used every day in gel electrophoresis to light up the “ladders” of DNA that have migrated through a gel. Usually this is UV transillumination, though.

By: Jemmy

Jemmy — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:29:00 +0000

This is a diagnostic, not a therapeutic, instrument. It’s basically two flashlights.

“Transillumination” is the technique of shining a light directly through an organ or space to see how opaque it is. As illustrated in the picture of the woman above, transilluminating the frontal sinuses, located behind your eyebrows, will tell you if one of them is plugged up with mucus or pus (sorry), and help diagnose a sinus infection. You can try it yourself with a penlight in a dark room with a mirror.

A hydrocele is a fluid collection in the scrotum; transillumination tells you it’s actually just benign fluid and not a solid tumor. Similarly it helps distinguish between fluid-filled breast cysts and solid breast tumors.

By: Bozobub Demon Lord of Clowns

Bozobub Demon Lord of Clowns — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Transilluminators still exist. They are/were made (in this case) to shine light through normally-opaque body tissue, to show the underlying structures. Simple Google search FTW, folks.

By: knoxblox

knoxblox — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:24:00 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transillumination

I personally think it would be freaky cool to see a baby with a glowing cranium.

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Trans-sinusl ultrasound. No, that’s not it. It appears to shine light inside the sinuses so doctor can check it out and make a diagnosis.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:20:00 +0000

that looks similar to, but possibly less plasma-awesome, this crazy thing my friends own: http://apleasingfiveness.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/heal-all-ails-with-electric-glowinator-yes-we-can/

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Aaaaaiiiiiigggggh…I’m still trying to scrub this one out of my imagination from last week! You’re welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9SL_lrKmKs

By: Dom Fletcher

Dom Fletcher — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:16:00 +0000

looks like a placebometer to me…