# Catching Pinworms-- Is This True?! (TMI...Not for the Squeamish) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546 "2004-01-09T01:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/81 "2010-07-20T22:25:21Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > . . .Beside the ick factor, is there any real downside to these buggers? > [@](#): > > Quoting Lynn’s report: > Occasionally, in girls, the larvae will crawl into the vagina instead. Which is, I’m sure, how they came to be called pinworms. We used to get them when we were little and it felt like being stuck repeatedly with a pin. Not a good time. It’s tender there. > [@Berkut](#): > > Am I the only one with a mental image of a bunch of pinworms lounging around my anus in a bunch of deckchairs? You know, reading the paper, smoking, generally having a good time. Then one of them screams, “TAAAAAAAAAPE!” and they all run for the safety of my ass? > > No? Well, you WERE the only one. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/82 "2010-07-20T22:49:19Z")
If you get them, you just have to tickle that ganglion thingy in your bowel somewhere, like in the _Parasites Lost_ episode of _Futurama_: **Professor Hubert Farnsworth** : If we can stimulate that nerve, the bowel will convulse, expelling the entire worm society. **Hermes Conrad** : But what about the worms in the other parts of his body? **Professor Hubert Farnsworth** : Listen, this is going to be one hell of a bowel movement. Afterwards he’ll be lucky if he has any bones left. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/83 "2010-07-21T04:07:04Z")
they can also get into the appendix. ---
**Author:** ![IaMoDiNaRy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IaMoDiNaRy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IaMoDiNaRy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/84 "2010-07-21T04:47:54Z")
[SIZE=1]A big THANK YOU !!! to whoever bumped this thread up! I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time !!! You guys are hilarious… [/SIZE] ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/85 "2010-07-21T05:06:01Z")
Thanks **doggio**. Now I’m itchy EVERYWHERE! (Does that mean I am, in fact, an asshole?) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/86 "2010-07-21T05:58:16Z")
An IRL friend of mine who’s also a Doper became convinced he had pinworms - to the extent that he actually went to the doctor, IIRC - the first time this thread was around. He’s not a regular Doper nowadays. Maybe I should email it to him to show that it’s been bumped. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/87 "2010-07-21T06:24:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > they can also get into the appendix. :eek: : scratches appendix : ---
**Author:** ![IaMoDiNaRy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IaMoDiNaRy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IaMoDiNaRy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/88 "2010-07-21T16:00:09Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > An IRL friend of mine who’s also a Doper became convinced he had pinworms - to the extent that he actually went to the doctor, IIRC - the first time this thread was around. He’s not a regular Doper nowadays. Maybe I should email it to him to show that it’s been bumped. And send him right back to the doctor! This thread could make even the most hardened anti-medical establishment paranoid go running for the hospital doors! It’s playing tricks with my mind, for sure… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/89 "2010-07-21T16:52:47Z")
Itch, itch, itch… ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/90 "2010-07-21T18:04:24Z")
> [@Loisseau](#): > > Hmmm-one more reason to question certain sexual proclivities. Seems like a good reason to sleep with some drawers on as well. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/91 "2010-07-21T18:24:01Z")
If someone calls me up and mentions “Scotch” and “tape” in the same sentence, I am so not thinking, “Cool … pinworm hunting time!” Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/92 "2010-07-21T18:31:48Z")
The test for tapeworms is not to probe the anus with a pin, however. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/93 "2010-07-21T19:40:35Z")
My daughter had them, when she was four or five. The preschool teacher told me there’d been a few cases, and told me about the flashlight diagnosis. To this day, I wonder if Tracy remembers her mom peering at her vagina with a flashlight. Shades of Sybil! The cure in the 60’s was raw cabbage. (Eating it, not applying it.) It worked. ---
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/94 "2010-07-23T12:42:58Z")
Why raw cabbage? It’s like feeding them salad? Isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/95 "2010-07-23T12:57:41Z")
One website says cabbage has sulfur, which repels worms. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/96 "2010-07-23T15:47:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The test for tapeworms is not to probe the anus with a pin, however. It took me almost 2 days to figure this out. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/97 "2010-07-25T19:52:00Z")
> [@Berkut](#): > > P.S. They make great bait. Seriously? That’s one bait I don’t think I would ever try. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/98 "2010-07-25T21:15:27Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > This is just too damn itchy … I mean funny … to close. _Zombie_ pinworms! …] Zombie Butt Worms has a better ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/99 "2010-08-29T15:53:24Z")
So does one HAVE to use hot water to clean all the laundry? I think I may have the little bastards, now. Also, what does one need to clean all surfaces? Alcohol, bleach, or what? I don’t want something that will destroy the remotes because I will definately be cleaning those. Also, will vacuuming be sufficient for the rug? A lot of ditry laundry has sat on the floor and so it must certainly have eggs on it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546/100 "2010-08-29T22:55:32Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > So does one HAVE to use hot water to clean all the laundry? I think I may have the little bastards, now. Also, what does one need to clean all surfaces? Alcohol, bleach, or what? I don’t want something that will destroy the remotes because I will definately be cleaning those. Also, will vacuuming be sufficient for the rug? A lot of ditry laundry has sat on the floor and so it must certainly have eggs on it. I’m afraid to ask what you’re doing with your remotes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-pinworms-is-this-true-tmi-not-for-the-squeamish/223546.md?page=6)