1. Keelan Goldhallow

    Keelan Goldhallow New Member

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    Healing from a shark bite or something similar?

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Keelan Goldhallow, Sep 26, 2016.

    One of my characters was attacked twice by a creature similar to a shark, and I was wondering how long it takes to heal from that, at least enough to walk around comfortably and maybe fight sometimes. The creature he was attacked by has never been confirmed to be real, but if you want to know, it's called a ninki-nanka or sometimes a mokele mbembe. The first attack was ten years ago so it's completely healed, but how long will the second one take?
     
  2. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I think it varies based upon where your character has been bit. I am going to go with 3-6 months depending on how deep the wounds are. (This does not take into account any medical problems that may arise, as well as if they have access to modern medicine to begin with.) So unless your character wants to avoid this problem in the future, they should probably stop tasting so good to large predatory aquatic creatures (Or wear body armor). :p
     
  3. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Your wound needs a bit more detail before anyone can say how long until it heals. Did the creature take a literal pound of skin and muscle in the bite or just leave puncture wounds? Where was the bite?

    My advice: write the story you want and fit the wound to the story.
     
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  4. Keelan Goldhallow

    Keelan Goldhallow New Member

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    I don't know if this will help, but he was bitten in the abdomen region and it was big enough to need stitches.
     
  5. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Well I am pretty sure they would have organ damage if bitten in the abdomen, as there is very little to no skeletal protection. So I would say probably 6-8 months under this condition, and having to spend time in a hospital for immediate attention. If Jaws tears a whole in your intestines or liver, you are going to need a bit more than a few hundred sutures.

    I will leave the expertise to @GingerCoffee, as she knows quite a bit more medically speaking than I. :)
     
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  6. garmar69

    garmar69 Contributor Contributor

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    Lot of variables to consider. You can get a nasty bacterial infection, sepsis, etc from animal bites. Did your guy roll around in the dirt, muck or funky water source? Any of those will impact healing time. I'd study some case history on Google about animal bites and do like GingerCoffee said and fit the wound to your story.
     
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  7. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    It doesn't change what I said. You can get a puncture wound in the abdomen that is not a serious injury or you can have a fatal bite that takes out your liver.

    Why does it matter that it is in the abdomen?

    Wounds are versatile. Think Outer Limits:
    Write the story, you can fit any wound you want to that story.
     
  8. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    I just read in a back issue of the Smithsonian magazine that most sharks will make one exploratory bite, and then sit back to either see what happens next or wait for the prey to bleed to death. So if your MC just had the exploratory bite, it might not have been that serious or incapacitating.
     

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