My dad is a nurse, and he has used this same type of distraction before pain technique many a times

I don't get this distraction thing.
If somethings gonna hurt, i want to know it. And i want to look directly at it and comment on it.
My dentist once had a camera and screen installed where i could watch him working on my teeth. Really interesting.

Works for some, but not for all.

If I'm getting a shot, blood drawn, or whatever, I much prefer being distracted before that needle makes contact

Meanwhile I on the other hand prefer to watch as it happens xD even if it's a wound-vac being changed and the process of removing the entire thing hurts like hell

Same. I don't find the pain diminished by the distraction. Just let me know so I can brace as much as is possible for me.

Never had a moment where you were working with some cardboard, go to get something else and then when you look back, fucking blood everywhre. Like Some sort of Japanese horrorfilm. Oh and now your hand hurts from the cardboard cut.

Not exactly, though I was rather surprised my thumb didn't hurt so bad when I slashed it breaking down boxes in a retail job. I was like, "Wow, that's bleeding a lot." before someone managed to guide my stupid arse back to the breakroom for first aid before they figured I might pass out.



It really smarted for a while during the healing, but the initial wound not so much. I've had a couple broken bones before in my hand and foot, but they were simple fractures. Also got clotheslined by a logging chain riding on the back of an ATV.

you brave heart, i don't think i could rest easy seeing my teeth being limed to the root

Same thing for me.

I've been through more than a few procedures and injuries, so I'm no stranger to pain. Out of all of them, I'd say my facial burns were the worst. I was in the hospital for two weeks for that, and yeah, wound debridement sucked. Thing is, there's no real way you can tell an 10-year old to "brace" for the pain.

Now, however, I can perform mental exercises to deal with it. Getting my anal fissure chemically cauterized was...an adventure. Even so, sometimes things go wrong. Like when I was getting a new port in my arm, and the poor guy with the IV team hit the volar interossius nerve.

I had been half-asleep.

Whoa-nelly! Everyone on the floor felt the walls buckle from the amount of air I sucked in on that one.

I have rarely met people that don't need distractions.

I can't look, and being given time to think about it just makes me psych myself out. I'm very squeamish and hate pain, and I'd want it to be over as fast as possible with as little time to think about it as it's safe to give me.

Yeah pain sucks. But i'm extremely curious about all things and sometimes doctors get annoyed when i ask too many questions XD
Did you know that most dentists don't even know whats in the anesthetic they inject you? To them, it's just "the anesthetic".

Why I don't like shots. Doc can't tell me what's in it.

It's because most of the time anticipating it makes it feel worse than it actually is, and also because if you anticipate it you'll subconsciously tense the muscles in the area they need to do something in, which for needles or scalpels can make it a bigger and more painful cut or hole than it needs to be, and for liquids or ointments can make it cover less of the area and be less effective. Plus when you're antipating pain it has the psychosomatic effect of making the pain seem worse than it actually is.
Take all this with a grain of salt, as I don't have any kind of medical education or background, so I'm not an expert on this.

It's a Stress-Reducing technique. There are certain circumstances where the anticipation of a medical procedure alone, even as small as a child getting a shot, can actually cause the patient to go into shock through the placebo effect. Distracting the patient allows the actual beginning of the treatment to be less anticipated, restricting the body's reaction to an immediate one instead of a preemptive one, in cases where the administration of anesthetic is impractical or impossible. In this case, Elim has a stab wound going through his abdomen, the anticipation of a painful procedure that is clearly shown to have a detrimental effect on his mood will undoubtedly cause him to go into shock and potentially kill him. Distracting him actually was something the doctor did to prevent his condition from getting worse, since he knew that the pain would be much more extreme than normal for his patient.

The inverse of this tactic is actually a form of psychological torture, where the victim is forced to constantly anticipate extreme pain until their body begins going into shock sympathetically, despite there actually being no pain inflicted at all.

Interesting. Very engaging dialogue, interesting to see what the 'regular people' in Ivenmoth think. Bottom right pose seems a bit wonky.

Seems fine to me. Hands clenched, shoulders involuntarily forward, head forced back into pillow, trying to stay still despite substantial sudden pain.

Nah, it's the classic dentist's chair pose. Tense and stiff trying not to move so you don't injure yourself by mistake while they work.

Don't care, just following orders... now on the count of 3, 1 *rips bandaid off* done!

Naughty Viracroix! That's how rumors spread! :V

Note that the liquid was applied to the bandages and not directly to the skin. Yes... It would be a real "Stinger".

That reaction in the last panel! XD

Is that white lightning or everclear or something?

considering his wound it could be rubbing alcohol and it'll have the same reaction.

Yeah, it's just a bit easier to distill ethanol than isopropyl is all.

Since he called it "the good stuff" I'd definitely guess it's some kind of alcohol, and probably something drinkable.

Trademaster's Private Reserve.

I hope it's the ladder, wink, wink.

The Trademaster's reputation must be sterling to engender such unquestioning loyalty from the staff.

From how he's been portrayed, he seems to be a benevolent dictator played straight. No tricks, no "He's actually a total monster," he's just a figure of absolute authority who knows that a thriving city is a loyal and profitable city.

*nods* I agree that's how it seems, but it's mostly been intimated so far.

And yet, we also know he can be quite vicious with his enemies. He is a great person and leader to those who are his subjects, allies and firneds, and worst nightmare for his enemies.

The fact that it hurts means its working!

Heh....it's all about deflection.

Betting its some form of Peroxide, unless you are used to it that shit hurts like hell x3

Well they do say it's supposed to hurt less when its a surprise. Emphasis on 'supposed'. XD

Ahhh.....just got blood work done a few days ago. Know its not comparable but for me omg getting my blood taken always hurts SO much...

Pour stuff on the bandages, let it soak scabbed over tissue, and then remove bandage once dried blood softened to prevent "waxing" open the wound which would restart the bleed? Smart, that would let the wound actually heal itself.
...
Why in arctic's name is this guy better than my actual doctor?!?

Its a miracle I didn't get bladerot..

Are you being stabbed with blades often?

Well i could have givin you some painkillers but since the headdoctor has to get off his painkiller addiction, these kind of medicine is banned in house ivenmoth until further notice.

Ouch... well the fact it's hurting means that the chemicals are reacting so... at least it doesn't hurt to harm.

Though I like his and the nuses' attitude.

Pain is weakness leaving the body, and also moistening bandages before removal is good if you want to make sure you're not tugging at the scabbing.

Seems like a good policy around Viracroix. Don't ask how it happened, just go with it.

Never said that healing was painless. Thinking about it now I can't remember a time when having any medical treatments was ever painless to start out with?🤔

Whenever I get needles or the like in me I always tell the nurse/doctor *NOT* to tell me when they're putting it in. Makes it easier instead of anticipating it.

I just turn aside and try to count in Spanish (not my native language).
BTW, I learned this counting from monitoring Spy Number Stations on shortwave back in the day.

If healing was pleasant people would just go around getting horribly painfully stabbed all the time.

This Doctor, I like.

You know, I don't blame the nurse, considering there's no history of this happening before, and neither magic exists in this world. It is hard to believe it without thinking they got a screw off in their heads, but for the sake of keeping your blood where it belongs, you take those words as real.

Well, ain't that guy a charmer? XD

He probably should have gone for the "talkthesia" approach during the procedure and not before it happens. :V

I'm sorry but I can't help but to chuckle at that face he made in the last panel.

Haha this doctor is all right.

I wonder what this antiseptic consists of? But probably the main composition includes ethyl alcohol.

Behold! I will make this wound disappear as if by magic by pouring acid directly into it!

What do you mean creating a different wound isn't the same as making the old one go away? It's different therefore it's gone.

The sizzling lets you know it works.

I wonder "Specialised Treatment" would entail..?

NUTTED BUT SHE STILL SUCKIN'

I imagine it's some sort of alcohol mixed with water and soem kind of plant extract to dissolve the outer layer of blood or goop soaked into the bandages. So it doesn't rip free and open the wound up worse when the bandages are removed.

aaand i read through your entire comic again.

now i will wait. and perhaps aid my flatmate in her Yinglet-OC-Fanart.

yo, Valsalia - do you mind me poking you via PN if i finish that Yinglet-OC-Fanart-thingamajing?

Totally! Definitely do poke

So if some, if not everyone, was told Officer Kass the yinglet was once human, it makes ya reflect on all his/her past interactions with other Ivenmoth personnel and what they must be thinking.

so for example on the comment on the last one ... these semi modern operating and medical rooms and the doctors and nurses running them probably were trained over the years as a medic would have had to have reasonable knowledge of what to do as computers may have still been too clumsy to do the work but they may have still been regularly used for reference material so that knowledge possibly got lost and so was never taught

in the case of the extremely good metals possibly they were able to find something that talked about different metallurgy and are just squandering it for themselves and have made some sort of rudimentary foundry to mix the proper metals. ... i dont think there has been a spec sheet of that one places special metal so i cant surmise what mix it may be but they dont necessarily need to have a full working futuristic foundry to simply mix and melt metals. high heat materials could be a problem though as they would not have the means of containing that heat wihout melting through the container.

You know a civilization is advanced when they discovered the miracles of hydrogen peroxide.

At least his delivery is better than the head surgeon's!

"Healing requires a lot of hurting" as we say in the army, "pain is the patients problem"