So, I have this idea that I really want to use for my story. The idea is my main character is fighting his best friend turned enemy and basically gets his arse handed to him when his friend/enemy uses his psychic abilities to force my MC down on his knees and force his head all the way back until he's staring at the ceiling and is forced to stay like this for about 10 minutes unable to move at all. I was just kind of wondering what kind of injuries this would cause or even if this would cause injuries.
Well if his head is being held back at an unnatural angle for an extended period of time this is probably going to cause something very similar to whiplash, which at its worst can cause swelling, difficulty moving your neck around, and severe headaches. This is a pretty weird punishment without more context. Is the enemy forcing your MC to stare at something in particular?
Hi, Ignore the psychic aspect of it and just try and put yourself in the physical position as if someone were holding you there with his hands. My guess is you're looking mostly at muscle strain problems, and these can be minor or serious. Minor is aches and pains. Moreserious are the muscle spasms of 'bad backs' and 'putting your back out'. These can leave you crippled for days. If the position is more drastic then that, say he's pushed so far out of position that he starts straining cartilege in the knees and backs, then you move on to more problems, muscle tears, cartilege tears, and maybe nerve damage. Its all a question of degree. Cheers.
Hi, How would I know if I don't know how he's already injured? You'll need to provide some specifics.
I would recommend asking a doctor, a nurse, or even a chiropractor. Not a bunch of strangers whose qualifications you know nothing about. One key principle of research is know the origins of the information you collect, and use it to evaluate how reliable your information is.
yeah I'll probably just browse the internet and see if I could find something to help me. Sorry this was a really bad post.
Well I'm a doctor, and I can say the information so far has been somewhat sound. You can explore the full spectrum of injury here, depending on the degree of hyperextension and the intial force used to push the head bacward. If the force caused a sudden severe jolt backward, that could fracture the bones around the spinal chord, possibly causing swelling and severe pain. A very significant force could dislocate the cervical spine, where the bone impacts on the spinal chord. The swelling or the direct injury could likely cause a neurological deficit with anything from losing the ability to breathe to paraplegia. That's worst case scenario. If the force is not so severe and the degree of extension is not that harsh, then all you might suffer is a tear in the surrounding ligaments or even just a muscle strain, which would just result in pain and limted movement over the next few weeks. I don''t see how having a concussion or internal bleeding would make any difference on the type of injury the spine would sustain in this position. So basically your character can suffer anything from minor pain to death(partial c-spine transection), you just need to adjust the the force and degree of extension accordingly.
Thank you so much! Sorry if I'm coming off as stupid but one more question, would you say this would be very painful or just uncomfortable?
I agree with the joker, but concussion can cause balance issues, pain(to all degrees), vision problems, any or all can make the person unable to walk without help. Neck: Strain; pain, extreme spasm(pain that seems like even moving your little finger causes increased pain (btdt)), stiff neck, rebound pain, the other muscles are painful when straightened back out. pinched nerve, causing pain shooting down the arm or leg, or numbness, even feel like when your arm is "asleep". (That pain when the blood starts flowing again.) Combined: might not be able to walk, might not want to move, dizzy, might even have blackouts, pain or numbness in an arm or leg. treatment: He will need to take it easy for several days depending on severity and tolerance of pain. Not sure if concussion requires staying awake for 24 hours like in the movies. (I think it is several hours, just to be sure your not going into a coma or having blackouts suggesting bleeding in the brain)
