Hitting an artery

[phoenixx]

So when I cut last night I ended up hitting an artery in my wrist. As soon as I saw the blood squirting out, I grabbed some tissue and managed to stop the bleeding.

My question is, what would have happened if I hadn't stopped the bleeding and just left it? Could it have been fatal or would I have just blacked out?

 

[SHThrowAway213]

If it was an artery, it was definitely fatal.

 

[anon722]

I imagine you would just black out from loss of blood after some time and yes you would faint and die as the brain would run out of oxygen.
was it too painful though ?

 

[TowerUpright]

It really depends, but if your blood is spurting faster than it can clot, then it is likely a lethal cut. You'd not only feel like blacking out, but also extremely cold as once you lose about 1/5 of your blood supply, you go into hypovolemic shock from, well, an extreme loss of blood volume. That's one of the reasons (I think) people often sit in a nice, warm bath before slicing themselves permanently. Your heart rate also will speed up, as your body attempts to compensate for a lower blood volume. This becomes a vicious cycle - Extreme bleeding with no clotting > Heart Rate increase > extreme bleeding, etc. Your blood pressure decreases due to the lack of volume in your blood and, since your head is the highest part of your body, it will have the least amount of blood. Also lending itself to headaches and blacking out.

You know you hit an artery if the blood is more of a bright red than you usually see with vein punctures. It's that oxygenated blood that makes it brighter.

Not sure if it answers your question and/or was Too Much Information.

I imagine you would just black out from loss of blood after some time and yes you would faint and die as the brain would run out of oxygen.
was it too painful though ?

Arteries can be deep and, thus, require a deeper cut. There are places, though, where arteries are superficial - Pretty much anywhere you can find a pulse on yourself is an artery. IIRC.

 

[wanttodie]

that's one way I want to go by hitting an artery in my Wrist.and bleed out and die

 

[not_a_robot]

So when I cut last night I ended up hitting an artery in my wrist. As soon as I saw the blood squirting out, I grabbed some tissue and managed to stop the bleeding.

My question is, what would have happened if I hadn't stopped the bleeding and just left it? Could it have been fatal or would I have just blacked out?

the brachial artery is sphincteral, so not much. it would've eventually closed to protect you. suicide by wrist is actually very rare.
best bet is always jugular or carotid, even then, it is not to be done casually. many fail with mere "dramatic gestures".

good luck to you whatever you decide.

that's one way I want to go by hitting an artery in my Wrist.and bleed out and die

unlikely.

So when I cut last night I ended up hitting an artery in my wrist. As soon as I saw the blood squirting out, I grabbed some tissue and managed to stop the bleeding.

My question is, what would have happened if I hadn't stopped the bleeding and just left it? Could it have been fatal or would I have just blacked out?

lol if you stopped the bleeding with a tissue, you were nowhere near an "artery".

 

[thedutchguy]

If you could push it close with a tissue it wasn't a artery, not in the way you think.
Seen them bleeding out only way to stop that is tourniquet as a first hulp. Without paramedics they wouldn't be here.

 

[phoenixx]

lol if you stopped the bleeding with a tissue, you were nowhere near an "artery".

If you could push it close with a tissue it wasn't a artery, not in the way you think.
Seen them bleeding out only way to stop that is tourniquet as a first hulp. Without paramedics they wouldn't be here.

I didn't just have a little piece of tissue, I had a wad of it (only thing I had near me in that moment) which I kept having to swap out for more tissue when it soaked up all the blood. I went through a lot of tissue then eventually put gauze over the cut and tightly wrapped a bandage around my wrist which stopped the bleeding.

Pretty sure it was an artery though by colour of the blood and by the way it spurted out like a fountain.

It really depends, but if your blood is spurting faster than it can clot, then it is likely a lethal cut. You'd not only feel like blacking out, but also extremely cold as once you lose about 1/5 of your blood supply, you go into hypovolemic shock from, well, an extreme loss of blood volume. That's one of the reasons (I think) people often sit in a nice, warm bath before slicing themselves permanently. Your heart rate also will speed up, as your body attempts to compensate for a lower blood volume. This becomes a vicious cycle - Extreme bleeding with no clotting > Heart Rate increase > extreme bleeding, etc. Your blood pressure decreases due to the lack of volume in your blood and, since your head is the highest part of your body, it will have the least amount of blood. Also lending itself to headaches and blacking out.

You know you hit an artery if the blood is more of a bright red than you usually see with vein punctures. It's that oxygenated blood that makes it brighter.

Not sure if it answers your question and/or was Too Much Information.


Arteries can be deep and, thus, require a deeper cut. There are places, though, where arteries are superficial - Pretty much anywhere you can find a pulse on yourself is an artery. IIRC.

Thank you for this, does answer my question and I appreciate all the information!

I imagine you would just black out from loss of blood after some time and yes you would faint and die as the brain would run out of oxygen.
was it too painful though ?

Was quite painful but I think the adrenaline masked most of the pain as I wasn't expecting it to happen. I was using new blades, cut with the same pressure as my old ones..

 

[Polaris]

I did something similar 2 months ago. I stabbed my radial artery. Blood was spraying out like crazy, and wouldn't stop, even with pressure applied. With every heartbeat, the wound would weirdly bubble with blood. The way I stabbed my wrist was straight down and parallel to my arm (the old down-the-street direction). Because I stopped after merely stabbing, I didn't separate my skin that wide. It was a slit. If I had sliced more directionally, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to close my wound without medical help and a tourniquet. Of course, that would also be more painful. Because my wound was deep but not wide, I could bandage it tightly enough to close. I don't know if your wound is similar, but it sounded familiar to me. I think this method is certainly possible, especially now that I have some detailed experience. If I ever want to use this method (it's not my first choice), I plan on trying to widen the wound and stabbing the artery multiple times, just so that it's harder to close. Maybe even both wrists to speed things up. Once you're below the layer of skin, the blade causes a dull ache rather than sharp pain, so it's bearable. Now that you've cut deep enough before, you'll have scar tissue in the same place. This makes it really easy to try again since you won't feel as much pain. It's a time consuming method, so make sure you're alone long enough. I hope my detail helps.

 

[TowerUpright]

To stop arterial bleeding, be sure to have some THICK bandages or paper towels (tissues really won't do unless you have a lot of them). Hold STRONG pressure over the cut and, if possible, put your arm / appendage higher than your heart (like, hold it up the air, etc.). This will aide in stopping the bleeding.

 

[phoenixx]

I did something similar 2 months ago. I stabbed my radial artery. Blood was spraying out like crazy, and wouldn't stop, even with pressure applied. With every heartbeat, the wound would weirdly bubble with blood. The way I stabbed my wrist was straight down and parallel to my arm (the old down-the-street direction). Because I stopped after merely stabbing, I didn't separate my skin that wide. It was a slit. If I had sliced more directionally, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to close my wound without medical help and a tourniquet. Of course, that would also be more painful. Because my wound was deep but not wide, I could bandage it tightly enough to close. I don't know if your wound is similar, but it sounded familiar to me. I think this method is certainly possible, especially now that I have some detailed experience. If I ever want to use this method (it's not my first choice), I plan on trying to widen the wound and stabbing the artery multiple times, just so that it's harder to close. Maybe even both wrists to speed things up. Once you're below the layer of skin, the blade causes a dull ache rather than sharp pain, so it's bearable. Now that you've cut deep enough before, you'll have scar tissue in the same place. This makes it really easy to try again since you won't feel as much pain. It's a time consuming method, so make sure you're alone long enough. I hope my detail helps.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I might wait for the cut to heal then try and cut it again, see what happens and how deep I can get. I also cut an artery years ago on my opposite arm, further up from the wrist so it'd be easier to get to the artery on that arm too. It's not my first choice either but its something I would like to try because you never know, might be one of the lucky ones who succeeds with this method. I plan on hanging myself at a hotel someday, but it wouldn't hurt to try that method first (always been the way I wanted to go). Even if it fails, I still wouldn't be disturbed for a few days so I'd have plenty of time to hang myself.