So, my main male MC Eric most likely severed a few tendon in his right hand when attempting to kill himself and I am wondering how much of a recovery he could have. He's left-handed and honestly, very determined. I don't know what device he used, but as the author, I don't want him to walk away from this incident unscathed physically. I know in some cases, doctors could reattach many things, but I don't know how they would go about fixing tendons. I know they can, but I don't know how easy it would be if it's a deliberate injury rather than an accident or sports injury. I am figuring at the beginning of he story, because this is his backstory, he can't use a few of his fingers and his right hand cannot be raised. Anyhow, I'm new here and thank you for your help! Seems like a lovely place.
I know people who were left with restricted hand strength, fingers locked in position after workplace accidents that caused similar injuries to self harm. Meant an over-reliance on the good hand but little overall impact. Also, it has been recorded that emergency departments will often apply less pain relief medication in an instance of self-inflicted injury, particularly if it's not the patient's first presentation. Someone with medical knowledge will give you more specific details on the mechanics involved in the situation. This is one instance where Dr Google might actually be useful.
Thank you so much for this! I might go with some grip-strength issues as it could be interesting. I just don't want him to walk away from this physically 100%. And interesting. Why would they give less pain relief? For further punishment of the person or something? And I would google it, but I might use a different search engine that won't track my weird searches. And I don't think my character was conscious when carted to the hospital, so I don't think he would notice the pain medication until he woke up. (If it was still being used.)
i'd imagine nerve damage as well. My friend had surgery on the tendons in her hand and now the nerves are damaged. she says it feels like her hand is asleep. she says the doctors told her that normal feeling would come back in time, but she is still having problems with it a year later. her was an accident that caused her injury. I have nerve damage in my knee from a combination of 2 surgeries and my knee is numb to touch (so i bump it a lot and dont even know it until i see the bruises), and then sometimes the nerves will just start firing off and it feels like im being poked with needles in that spot at random times. Its been 9 years since my last surgery and the nerves in my knee still havent gone back to normal. Mine was a corrective surgery for something that could have been a hereditary problem (my mom had the same surgery at that age on the same knee). I dont know anyone who has intentionally cut deep enough to cause lasting damage
Ah shoot, I totally forgot nerves existed. But you're right. There would most likely be nerve damage and such. So maybe he can't feel his hand sometimes. I know that nerve damage is finicky and all. So it would vary person to person. But it's interested that you say you bruise your knee without knowing it, because people don't really think about what it's really like to not be able to feel. Could be interesting to play with in my story. And nah, don't worry about knowing anyone personally. I am looking for more of a medical opinion/creative thoughts on the matter.
I second this. One of my MCs has nerve damage from a laceration (knife) wound that runs a decent length down his arm. I don't think it would be any harder than an accidental injury unless your character did research on ways to fatally cut himself. In that case, because he would have known what he was doing, it could have made the situation more urgent for the doctors/paramedics. This may or may not be of help, but if an artery was cut, your character would have likely lost a lot of blood. He possibly could've suffered some complication from that. Since you said this is all backstory, and medical issues can be varied in terms of outcomes, I think you will probably be safe whichever route you take. Just make sure to do your research.
I don't think Eric's really a person to do much research. This was more of a swift decision. I know that blood loss can be dangerous, but what long-term complications could arise? I know shock is a thing and without enough oxygen the brain begins to die in 4-6 minutes. Trust me. I do a LOT of research.
I'm going to leave this link here for more reference, but it says organ damage, heart attack, or gangrene can result from hypovolemic shock. If you wanted to extend your research into, for example, damage to a specific organ, you could, and you may end up finding some complication that can stem from that. https://www.healthline.com/health/hypovolemic-shock#complications
Hm, I think the question itself is a little wrong. A deliberate injury is in most cases less severe, than an accident, thus easier to get help with. It's hard to hurt your own body, especially to the point of serious damage or death (which is why most attempts also fail). I understand it takes the drama out of it, but really, accidents are much more interesting in this sense. "most likely severed a few tendon" - tendons are tough, it takes a little work to cut through them. He must have been more or less sawing at them to cause such a damage. Which kinda makes me think then he must have gotten to the artery as well, and then I wonder why he is alive The more "typical" wrist-cutting, especially if the person survived, is quite harmless (if I may say so). in a sense that it doesn't lead to death and it doesn't lead to permanent damage. Tendons heal well, if you get proper treatment and make sure you rehabilitate. The most likely is just to have small complications, some pain, slightly impacted strength, slightly impacted motor skills. I found this article which I thought was quite informative, but it's more like general information about the injuries. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6571333/ You could try and find some studies about patients' experience to read. Search for something like "patients' experience traumatic hand injury". For example here in Sweden we have a online portal that collects thesises, and I found this study https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1033720/FULLTEXT01.pdf - "The Experience of a Traumatic Hand Injury and Consequences for Meaningful Activities". But it's in Swedish, it only has an abstract written in English.
I totally get what you're saying. I think I would rather go for more realistic injuries than drama. And as for why he's alive, it's due to super-natural reasons. I also think part of why he got so far was because he was most likely drunk during the attempt. Maybe in the story, it's more that he's worried his injured himself more than what actually happened. I just don't want him to get off scott-free. Because I know in some cases, permanent injury is thing. Another thing, maybe instead of sawing, he decides to stab instead. Because that would change what he hits and what needs to be fixed. Thanks so much for the articles! I will look at the English one.
My husband is a first responder. He told me about this call he had where a guy slit his wrists so deep, he hit bone. The guy had taken shrooms, they found out, and afterwards, called a dozen people that he was going to kill himself. No one took him seriously because they just thought he was tripping off the shrooms. Husband doesnt know if he lived or not, just that they found him in a pool of blood and vomit and rushed him to the hospital. It may be hard to inflict harm on yourself, but when you are under the influence, or severe mental crisis, it becomes easier i suppose.
That is what I was thinking. Because I know if someone's very determined, they'll do anything. From what I know from my forensic and psychology books is that most people who don't want to actually die won't 'try as hard'. But those who do, will find a way. Or at least that's how I read it. And since my character is determined and drunk at the time, I figure that he would inflict a lot more injury than the average person. That's why I wanted to know what recovery might look like if he had in fact, like your guy in the above example, hit bone. I am thinking he used a steak-knife from hotel room service.
