I'm doing this report on cutting (mostly wrists), an unfortunately common activity amongst teenagers nowadays, but I have some doubts at medical level and I was hoping someone could enlighten me.
I never actually cut a vein/artery (thank God) but I heard when you do you don't feel the pain right away but instead in a few hours, and it is truly excruciating. Is this true?
Also, if the injury is inflicted with something metallic, let's say none-sterilized, and the person allows it to bleed for a few hours without making anything about it (not cleaning it in any way or applying antiseptics), is it possible to get into some kind of shock from the blood loss/infection? And if so, could someone give me a brief description of the sympthoms/effects before, during and after the cut, and the many solutions for the problem? I accept websites recommendations as well.
Thanks in advance!
Answer:
the blood vessels themselves don't have pain-sensing nerves, so you're right that cutting them wouldn't hurt- but all the surrounding skin and tissues do have pain sensing nerves, so i really don't know how you can cut into a vein and not feel the pain right away.
trauma to a large blood vessel such as the radial artery (the artery in your wrist) would cause shock from the blood loss. sure, you may get septic shock from an infection, but that would happen several days later. you wouldn't die of the infection right away. the blood loss would probably kill you first.
you dont feel it right away .
If I also write it up and present it will I get an A? Why would anyone want to do a report on such a graphic subject? Anyway if you do sever a vein or artery usually you don't feel it at first. And usually the person will turn white and faint due to seeing the injury not actually feeling it. Infections I don't know a lot about. I assume anything that goes untreated can/would get infected unless you have some really strong antibodies!
First off if cut with something metallic yes they can end up with an infection. Second, They usually feel nothing do to the mental status that they are in and that the fact that they damage the nerves when they cut their wrists. There can be many reasons why a teenager tries to harm them-self. As far as the correction, parents need to pay more attention to their children and what watch for signs of depression which usually leads to suicide. Common signs of depression is loss of appetite, they keep themselves isolated, grades fall, changing clothing if a child goes from wearing colorful clothing to all black and it's not because she is following the new trend it maybe a sign they are having problems. The list of symptom for depression is endless. Goggle depression to get a complete list. As far as the after math of the attempt - once they cut their wrist, they usually do do faint from the loss of blood, sight of blood etc. Most attempts from teenagers to commit suicide is a feeble attempt to cry for help...You can also goggle teenage suicides and you will turn up a lot of statics and sound information.
Cutting hurts. That's something of the point among self-mutilators. The vessel itself, though, isn't overly rich in pain receptors. People who cut wrists normally don't get down to the radial artery, which is deep to some of the tendons. If a large enough vessel is cut, though, it can bleed substantially, hence the quick effectiveness of seppuku. Hypovolemic shock. And any wound can get infected. Most venous bleeders, though, are going to clot off at some point. There's an old and somewhat sardonic surgical maxim: "All bleeding stops." And infectious complications are normally going to take days.
People who lose major amounts of blood do not generally exhibit pain so much as anxiety and breathlessness, since getting oxygen into the tissues is a basic drive that overrides the importance of pain.
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