The Head Mirror: A Comic Book Classic
One of the classically identifiable characteristics of a doctor, at least as far as comic books and cartoon characters are concerned, is their use of the head mirror. “Use” is really the wrong word here — the characters wear the head mirror, but rarely actually use it.
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As the name suggests, a head mirror is worn on the head, attached to a headband. It is a shallow, concave mirror and reflects a broad beam of light. When not in use, it is worn on the forehead above one eye — not in the center of the forehead*. When worn in the up position, the backside should be showing, not the reflective surface. Then, when illumination is needed, the mirror is flipped down over the eye, the reflective surface facing the patient.
To use a head mirror, there needs to be a strong light source above and behind the patient which is aimed at the doctor. The doctor sits in front of the patient and flips down the mirror so that it covers his eye. There’s a convenient hole in the center of the mirror so he can look out and maintain his binocular vision. The light is reflected by the mirror and automatically aimed at wherever the eyes are looking, providing a constant, bright illumination.
Most doctors gave up using head mirrors years ago as more modern and more convenient lighting technology became available. Many ENTs (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists) still use them, though I think it depends a great deal on where you train. For example, the ENTs at my medical school used them, but not the ones at my residency.
Like many cases of tradition versus technology, there are pros and cons of using head mirrors.
- Historically, head mirrors were the best way to illuminate the throat/ear/etc for examination.
- Historically, head mirrors were the best method to provide illumination while leaving both hands free.
- Head mirrors offer a light source that shares direct line of sight with the eye; the light and eye are at the same level. Head lamps and hand-held lights provide illumination at an offset angle, and this can cast shadows which can sometimes be a problem (allegedly, anyway — I’ve never found it to be a problem, but then I’m not an ENT).
- Since the light source is in front of the physician, there is no head shadow (again, not really an issue with the hand-held lights I use).
Cons:
- Very hard to learn to use. Really. This cannot be stressed enough: very, very difficult to learn to use.
- Cumbersome and awkward to wear.
- Not portable. You can pretty much only use it in the office; useless on hospital rounds, during surgery, etc.
Classically, head mirrors are drawn on a character as an “artistic shorthand” to show that someone is a physician. As technology has passed the head mirror by, so has comic book shorthand, and it isn’t as common as it once was — though it still shows up from time to time (Dr. Hibbert, Dr. Zoidberg, Metamorpho). You’ll notice that it’s almost always drawn incorrectly , in the center of the forehead, and is rarely shown actually being used.
Still, the head mirror’s a comic book classic, and I doubt that it will ever completely go away. Decades from now, somehow, people are still going to realize that head mirrors are meant to indicate a doctor — even though they’ve never seen one in real life (a head mirror, that is, not a doctor).
*And the mirror should not be drawn in the middle of the headband either, but either just above or below it. See the official looking picture above and to the right.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:21 am
I’m guessing another advantage would be that the head mirror leaves both hands free.
Batman for the Crime Doctor wore one that served as a weapon; shooting out a blinding beam of light.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:42 am
I used to think that it made the comic characters look like strange scientists from lost Atlantis or Lumuria ( with their traditional mystic headdress. )
August 21st, 2008 at 11:33 am
I doubt that it was the artist’s original intention, but Zoidberg actually can get a pass in the incorrect usage department, as his character really is supposed to be a horrible doctor.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Seems like nowadays they could make something similar using a ring of high-intensity LEDs around a central eyehole. Sort of like a ring flash from a camera. It wouldn’t have to be as wide, which might make it easier to use.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Jon, that’s actually a pretty clever idea. I wonder why it hasn’t been done.
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[...] It’s funny: see a head mirror on a cartoon character, even a modern one, and we think “doctor.” But when’s the last time you saw an actual doctor wear one? via] [...]
August 29th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Ha! Great blog entry! I actually use my head mirror every day to examine patients’ noses. Its coaxial illumination is very helpful for peering into small holes like the nostrils, although the main reason I use it is simply tradition–it’s what I was trained to use during my residency. Of course, in the O.R. I use a fiber optic headlight and although that sits between my eyes, the off-axis angle is never much of an issue.
I do occasionally have a few patient remark on the old-school style of my head mirror, since it indeed has that stereotypical, Norman Rockwell painting, kind of look. :-)
September 5th, 2008 at 11:16 am
The last time I wore a head mirror was during my ENT rotation during internship. I sold mine after my rotation was through to a fellow intern. ENT’s at my hospital still use ‘em, though.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:58 am
I just want to second Mike’s remarks on Zoidberg, and to add that if he did use it properly, that would be quite a shocking level of competence coming from him. It is best that they (accidentally) screwed it up. (Also, none of my doctors have ever used a headlamp, and I am 23, so I guess perhaps my generation is the first that will have to learn about head mirrors from cartoons. Honestly, I never knew that’s what it was; I thought it was just a spelunking lamp!)
Of course he WAS able to keep Fry’s head alive by grafting it onto Amy’s body, then keep the body alive (and fix it) for an undisclosed time period, then re-graft Fry’s head back onto his body with only minor side-effects. If that’s what an incompetent 31st century doctor is like, it makes you wonder what a competent one could do.
February 15th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Nah, head-transplant is old-school. I thought it was bogus, but then I saw a somewhat disturbing film from the 50s or so of a doctor who grafted the head of one dog onto another dog’s body, leaving the original head intact, exactly as depcited on “Futurama”. The only hurdle to overcome, I suppose, is the intense neurosurgery involved in the spinal column. One can assume that by the 31st century that would be basic stuff even a bungler like Zoidburg could manage.
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