Description
Join Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin McElroy for a tour of all the dumb, bad, gross, weird and wrong ways we've tried to fix people.
Episodes
- 2025 / 12 / 9Sawbones Classic: Christmas is Trying to Kill YouA pre-Christmas warning, we're re-releasing our 2015 live show outlining all the ways that you need to watch out this Christmas â and not just from Santa's wrath.This week on Sawbones, Live from Huntington,...
- 2025 / 12 / 2Sawbones: The True Meaning of CandlenightsIt's the most wonderful time of the year â Candlenights! Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about the plans for the upcoming Candlenights special, as well as the story of Harmony House and some of the myths and facts...
- 2025 / 11 / 25Sawbones: Anyone Else Get Pee Shivers?Cozy up by the fireplace with some weird listener medical questions. What's the difference between a disease and a disorder? Where does the extra blood during pregnancy come from? Did getting my gallbladder...
- 2025 / 11 / 18Sawbones: Dopamine DetoxThe algorithm strikes again, this time telling Justin about a popular wellness trend known as a Dopamine Detox. Dopamine is often associated with pleasure centers and addiction, and certain corners of the...
- 2025 / 11 / 4Sawbones: Monkey EscapeSometimes we like to have fun on Sawbones, like diving into a recently reported story of a truck full research animals who escaped and were infectious to humans. But what actually happened, were these monkeys...
- 2025 / 10 / 28Sawbones: Methalyne BlueOften pseudo-scientific medicine is brought to Dr. Sydnee by friends and family. But this time, she encountered methalyne blue in the wild! Methalyne blue is currently being touted as a cancer treatment,...
- 2025 / 10 / 28Sawbones: Methylene BlueOften pseudo-scientific medicine is brought to Dr. Sydnee by friends and family. But this time, she encountered methylene blue in the wild! Methylene blue is currently being touted as a cancer treatment,...
- 2025 / 10 / 14Sawbones: Do You Know About the Penis Fish?As the weather turns, so do Dr. Sydnee and Justin to their inbox to answer more of listeners' WEIRD medical questions. Questions like: Can pee cure my foot fungus? Why do I cough when I put in earplugs? What...
- 2025 / 10 / 7Sawbones: LeucovorinJustin and Dr. Sydnee continue to bring news from the forefront of history with the second part of the announcement about autism â a possible treatment. It's leucovorin: also known as vitamin B-9. It can't...
- 2025 / 9 / 30Sawbones: TylenolYou may have heard the recent announcement From the US government linking acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism. Well, at the risk of spoiling the episode, itâs nothing. This week, Dr. Sydnee and...
- 2025 / 9 / 16Sawbones: Dr. AsherAnother episode in the Sawbones multiverse, Dr. Sydnee and Justin resist Dr. Richard Asher, who is the person who coined Munchausen Syndrome. Dr. Aster was a prominent physician and critical thinker whose...
- 2025 / 9 / 9Sawbones: Medical Update: VaccinesWith all the changes going on in the CDC, Dr. Sydnee and Justin check back in with an update on vaccines and vaccine mandates, as well as dispelling some common vaccine myths that unfortunately come up again...
- 2025 / 8 / 26Sawbones: Munchausen SyndromeThere are many eponymous disorders and diseases, but Munchausen is an interesting case of a disease named after a character who is based on a real person. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about Hieronymus Karl...
- 2025 / 8 / 19Sawbones: LisztomaniaBefore the hysteria of Swifties and Beatlemania, people were getting hype over the handsome pianist Franz Liszt. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about what exactly about this artist made regular fandom escalate...
- 2025 / 8 / 5Sawbones: Freddy Pharkas, Frontier PharmacistBefore everyone hits the back-to-school grind, weâve got a fun episode about Freddy Pharkas. A historical figure of frontier medicine? No, a video game character from 1993. Justin and Dr. Sydnee talk about...
- 2025 / 7 / 29Sawbones: Can I Use My Own Tears as Saline?We're bringing the heat with listeners' weird medical questions! Are the hot parts of the body the only Sweaty parts? Is spicy food spicier some days more than others? Is there any benefits to extra things in...
- 2025 / 7 / 8Sawbones: King of StingA dovetail from last weekâs episode, Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about the official pain scale of insect stings, all compiled by Justin O. Schmidt. So who was this Justin, how did his research contribute to...
- 2025 / 7 / 1Sawbones: WaspsAfter an unfortunate and painful encounter with an angry flying insect, Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about wasps: how their stings work, and a journey into the science behind some folk remedies.Music:...
- 2025 / 6 / 24Sawbones: The HeartmobileIt used to be that if you needed to get to the hospital quickly, you would call the herse â because it had the space to transport a person who was lying down. Well, all of that changed in Columbus, OH, with...
- 2025 / 6 / 17Sawbones: MAHA MessDr. Sydnee and Justin said they'd talk about when the US Health Department replaced the vaccine council . . . well, it's happened. But to EVERYONE'S surprise, it's more of a mess than a triumph. Dr. Sydnee...
- 2025 / 6 / 10Sawbones: Is Noise Ointment a Waste of Time?Just in time for The Prom season, Justin and Dr. Sydnee bring your weird summer medical questions! Do other citrus fruits affect medication, or is it really just grapefruits? Why do hiccups happen so...
- 2025 / 6 / 10Sawbones: Is Nose Ointment a Waste of Time?Just in time for The Prom season, Justin and Dr. Sydnee bring your weird summer medical questions! Do other citrus fruits affect medication, or is it really just grapefruits? Why do hiccups happen so...
- 2025 / 5 / 27Sawbones: Sex ChocolateIt's a Sawbones grab-bag, featuring some pop-sci mythbusting around MSG, a reality check into current events around vaccines, and a fun new questionable product bringing chocolate to the bedroom.Music:...
- 2025 / 5 / 20Sawbones Classics: FluorideWith all the news around fluoride, we bring the classic Sawbones episode about the benefits of fluoride in drinking water, because the science has not changed.This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin explore a...
- 2025 / 5 / 13Sawbones: Dr. PopeThere was a time when Popes had secondary careers (or primary ones) on to of their Papal one. This includes Pope John XXI, the only Pope to have also been a physician. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about this...
- 2025 / 5 / 6Sawbones: Renaissance MedicineSawbones brings you a studio version of the show at the ye olde Harmony House Renaissance Faire. Justin and Dr. Sydnee talk about how medicine evolved in the Renaissance beyond what passed for scientific...
- 2025 / 4 / 29Sawbones: TetanusIt's a myth that tetanus is only found on rusty metal. What really matters is that a wound that is a dirty, deep puncture wound could to introduce the bacteria into the body. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about...
- 2025 / 4 / 22Sawbones: The Medical Freedom MovementThe Medical Freedom or the Health Freedom Movement is not new, but it is currently gaining more traction and attention under RFK, Jr. On its face, it is a political movement that distrusts pharmaceutical...
- 2025 / 4 / 15Sawbones: ThalassotherapyTikTok has become enthralled with the idea of Thalassotherapy... which is basically going to the ocean to feel better. Dr. Sydnee talks about the history of this "sea cure" and Dr. Richard Russell, the man...
- 2025 / 4 / 1Sawbones: Why Donât Edema and Enema Rhyme?Justin has gathered all the strangest listeners (questions) to quiz Dr. Sydnee with all of your weird and fun medical questions! Is Gatorade actually salty and NOT sweet? Are people with cat allergies...
- 2025 / 3 / 25Sawbones: Dr. Odyssey: Shark WeekWhat medical drama does a doctor on a cruise ship get involved in? Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about Dr. Odyssey: Shark Attack!, and the follow-up, Dr. Odyssey: Shark Attack! Part 2: Orca. It's a wild ride,...
- 2025 / 3 / 18Sawbones: The PittDr. Sydnee brings a little levity as she talks about a new medical show, The Pitt. Following fictional doctors in real-time(ish), Dr. Sydnee discusses how it compares to working in an actual ER, as well as it...
- 2025 / 3 / 17Feed Drop: Clint and Justin join MFD Spring Break!Itâs not MaxFunDrive without a wild kickoff spectacular! Former real-life VJ and host of MTV's Spring Break 1999, Dave Holmes, takes your favorite MaxFun hosts through some wacky â90s- and Spring Break-themed...
- 2025 / 3 / 11Sawbones: Henry VIIIHow dangerous is jousting? Just look into the example of King Henry VIII of England. The Tudor king is infamous for his six wives, but Dr. Sydnee explains how a jousting injury may have changed his behavior â...
- 2025 / 3 / 4Sawbones: KleptomaniaKleptomania is defined by an undeniable compulsion to steal, so it has wavered between legitimate diagnosis and flimsy criminal defense to somewhere in between since its inception. This week on Sawbones, Dr....
- 2025 / 2 / 25Sawbones: Apple Cider VinegarThe recent semi-fictionalized Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar explores the world of wellness following bloggers Belle Gibson and Milla Blake. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about what factors in the world and...
- 2025 / 2 / 11Sawbones: FrostbiteIt's been bitterly cold in our region lately and that's got Dr. Sydnee thinking about frostbite. This week, we'll gain a better understanding of this malady and even stage a brief theatrical selection about...
- 2025 / 2 / 4Sawbones: Science UpdatesThere has been a lot going on in the United States in the last few days that might affect what's going on with health, medicine, and other sciences. Dr. Sydnee talks about the implications of all of these now...
- 2025 / 1 / 28Sawbones: Whooping CoughDepending on where you live, you might be hearing a lot lately about Pertussis or Whooping Cough, even in Dr. Sydnee and Justinâs home county. Dr. Sydnee talks about the long history of this disease, its...
- 2025 / 1 / 21Sawbones: Physicians' UnionsImagine if your doctor could go on strike in the middle of a treatment. Thatâs the most popular argument against physiciansâ unions, but thereâs a lot more to the issue. Dr. Sydnee talks about the process of...
- 2025 / 1 / 14Sawbones: Seven-Second Poop TrickIt's a real medical (with a lower-case m) mystery, as Dr. Sydnee tries to find the source of a trick on TikTok that reportedly helps alleviate constipation. Join Sydnee on her surprisingly difficult journey...
- 2025 / 1 / 8Sawbones: Book ClubDr. Sydnee and Justin are easing back into the swing of things after the holidays by discussing what theyâve been reading, both apart and together. So cozy up with some tea to hear some good book...
- 2024 / 12 / 24Sawbones Classic Double-Feature: A Medicine Called Christmas 1 & 2Happy Candlenights! We've got for you a double-feature of the original A Medicine Called Christmas 1 and 2.Medicine Called Christmas: Live from Candlenights 2018, we're so proud to present a staged reading of...
- 2024 / 12 / 17Sawbones: How's My Lump Doing?As a gift to the audience, we have another Sawbones Q and A, answering strange questions submitted by listeners! How does a menstrual disk work? How should we ACTUALLY clean our ears? Are cat biscuits bad for...
- 2024 / 12 / 10Sawbones: Walking PneumoniaItâs nearly winter, which means the return of mycoplasma or âWalking Pneumoniaâ on this hemisphere. This week Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about how this infection was discovered, the questionable way it was...
- 2024 / 11 / 26Sawbones: Tesla MedbedSomehow the Tesla medical bed, or Tesla Biohealing Wellness Hotel and Resort is not related to Elon Musk. It is also not really related to actual medical care. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about another...
- 2024 / 11 / 19Sawbones: Project 2025Needless to say itâs going to be a long four years for the United States. This weekâs episode of Sawbones offers some guidance on what we might expect for medicine and health care going forward and what...
- 2024 / 11 / 5Sawbones Classic: History of AbortionIt's Election Day in the United States of America, and so we present this Sawbones episode on the history of abortion from May 2022. Go vote!With the recent news about Roe v. Wade, itâs important to talk...
- 2024 / 10 / 29Sawbones: John Green and Good.StoreDr. Sydnee and Justin are joined by John Green to talk about the still-prevalent disease of tuberculosis and how his company Good.Store is using coffee and tea to eradicate it in one African country.Music:...
- 2024 / 10 / 22Sawbones: Doctor OdysseyThere's a new medical show in town, and Sawbones is all here for it. Dr. Sydnee goes through some of the highlights of the medical emergencies above the cruise ship in Doctor Odyssey and their plausibility...