Terzo 333

I'm wondering this out of curiostity more than anything else.

Today I badly sliced my finger open. It wasn't extreme pain, but i knew I'd done it. I looked down and there was blood ousing out of about a two inch cut. It looked at first glance, much worse than it was.

Like I said it didn't hurt a lot, but after I looked at it I felt sickly, dizzy, and then hit the floor like a sack of spuds. I then felt dizzy/sickly for another hour.

I'm okay looking at other people's cuts etc but when it comes to mine I often faint. Did I go into shock ?

Am I strange or is there some medical jargon/reason for this.

Thanks

Matt

mj

I nearley did the same when i drilled through my thumb with the pilot drill of a 20mm holesaw - i was fine till i was running it under the tap and thought about what it would looklike if the holesaw blade had caught it. all of a sudden i felt mega sick and light headed-a cleaning lady sat me down and made me a sweet cup of tea-the sugar seemed to do the trick and i felt fine again.

I answer to your question, you are probably a mard asre

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

One of my cats got into a fight last week and injured an eye; I took her back to the vet on Saturday for a check-up and felt sick and light-headed as he described her condition and how it was progressing. There's just something about illness and medicine that I don't get on well with at all.

Cat and owner now recovering well, I hasten to add

A.

Mufasa

Don't worry, you are just a wuss
Best mate is the same, he only has to think about having to go to hospital and goes all grey and wobbly. However, a week or so after he fell over p!ssed at Le Mans and messed his elbow up good (we had cleaned and patched it up while still hammered) he could feel there was still a bit of gravel in it. Rather than go to the doctor and have it sorted out properly, he got me to 'operate' on it with a stanley knife and he was fine!! Got the bit of gravel out and patched it up again. No accounting for what can set you off!

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

I feel like you describe when I get cramp in my calf muscle, does anyone else get severe cramp in the calf?. It really does make me go into shock or something it's so bad, I go white as a sheet, sweat, feel very sick and dizzy. It lasts for ages as well and my calf muscle is like rock when it happens and it hurts for about a week afterwards. Nothing worse than waking at 3am with the tightening feeling meaning it's on it's way

Also a bad glass cut will make me feel this way too, also like you I don't get affected by other peoples injuries.

Apple

matt

I had something similar when I first saw the hole in my leg after an op - yuck - had all on to stop myself keeling over in bed

is it a body defence mechanism whereby putting you into "safe mode" i.e. subconcious takes over and runs everything on minimum resource level - there's no conscious decisions etc to make things worse, e.g. doing things which pump out even more of the red stuff...

or it could be lack of blood to the head...

but I'm no doc either

I used to be OK watching things like gory nature progs / ops on telly until my gran died but now I can be fairly squeamish

apple

Mycroft

This is a very mild form of 'Shock' people were often described as having died from 'shock' we now say 'trauma'... in your case the low level shock is part of the PLR function of the brain... PLR is Primitive Learned Response... effectively your feeling of nausea is a lowering of blood pressure and the narrowing of blood vessels... this is done to minimise fluid loss... in a severe car accident your bodily fluids get shifted about dramatically... so dramatically that you can actually die from the shift and the bodies response to minimise this 'effect'.


Your mild experience of this is entirely normal and can be overcome by simple exposure to the experience...


[Edited by Mycroft - 5/15/2003 11:04:01 PM]

Apple

jameswrx

AFAIR cramp is build up of lactic acid which sends the muscle into spasm a frig*in horrible feeling

the sweating is prolly from the pain / screaming and not knowing whether to try and stretch the muscle or "relax" it which makes it grab again (I think you're supposed to "work" it)

the ache afterwards is the lactic acid buildup that hasn't gone away coupled with the fact you've just put the muscle through virtually the worst symptoms it's gonna get without tearing it...

as a few of the sports freaks as they'll know more about it..

apple

Apple

hey - I almost got something right in layman's terms about the PLR

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

it's the rest of the stuff that goes with it. The pain of it genuinely makes me feel ill, i'll literally be white, freezing cold, sweating, feel sick and in a daze.

It's just one of the things I dread which will put me (as mycroft says) in a mild form of shock(doesn't feel that mild). Thinking about it injections used to make me feel the same but nowhere near as bad.

Seem to recall a young sister at the doctors having to lay me out on the couch after a couple of injections a couple of years ago, LOL

Apple

aren't those classic shock symptoms?

you're still around then - not been buried / crisped?

Little Miss WRX

Jameswrx - cramp is fecking painful and has had me crying out in sheer agony in the early hours of the morning too!

I found that wearing a support bandage after I had exercised helped prevent it, as well as drinking plenty of water and stretching adequately before bed.
Touch wood (taps head) I have been okay for a while now.....but it is not nice at all!!!!

Claudius

I think you're all pussies LOL

Think about the guy who got his arm trapped under that rock and cut it off with his pocket knife! He'd laugh at you!

Naa, seriously, I guess it's like Mycroft said

ramdor

iTrader: (2)

eat a banana every other day and see if your calf cramps vanish

Richie.

Fatman

I used to get cramps in my calf muscle like you describe. Not so severe as I'd look like I was in shock, but it hurt like hell and the muscle was rock solid. I found that adding more salt to my diet reduced the incidence of the cramps. I think it was an adolescent thing, as I eventually grew out of it without needing to conciously modify my diet any longer.

Little Miss WRX

I have found that in my late teens I suffered from cramp more and that drinking plenty of fluids was the key.

I hated it when the cramp came, then after 5 minutes it would go...only to come back with avengeance 10 minutes later! I wouldn't be able to walk on the affected leg for a few days.

I never looked into more salt in my diet as my family have a history of heart disease and I am happy with my blood pressure being constantly under average (usually 100/70). It does cause me to experience dizziness when standing quickly or for long periods of time, but you get used to it.

Fatman

It wasn't a medical recommendation to try more salt, perhaps just an 'old wives tale' someone once told me. There's no history of blood pressure problems in my family, and I was a physically fit teenager at the time. I was aware of the association between salt and blood pressure, but not bothered by it in my case.

Perhaps people shouldn't take this as an advocation of more salt - ask your doctor!

LMWRX: I know what you mean. I always got my cramps overnight - they would wake me up in agony I'd be limping the next day, but I don't remember it lasting >1 day.

RB5320

re the cramp in the calf muscle - I used to get this badly after running. It got to the stage that I would play rugby on a saturday and would be unable to train for the following week as the calf muscle would be locked solid for 4 or 5 days afterwards.
In my case it was because the arches of my feet had sunk slightly so that when I ran my foot would land too flat, causing all the ligaments and tendons to be slightly out of line. The cure was to have small inserts made up that fit in my shoes to hold my arches in the right place. Not a very technical explanation but you get the idea.
This is fairly common so perhaps you should see your doc (although in my case it took a year to be diagnosed, having seen 3 different specialists).

Steve

fast bloke

IIRC cramp can be caused by muscle fatigue or dehydration. Both of these lead to a sodium/potassium imbalance which has the same effect as the brain telling the muscle to contract. Once the contraction starts the spinal cord kicks in and keeps it going.

James - a couple of dozen standing lunges before bed, plenty of water and either fruit juice or overpriced isotonic sports drinks should help.


If you get lots of cramps you should probably see your doctor, as they can be the only sign of other more serious conditions

Redkop

I also get chronic cramp during the night, my Doc prescribed Quinine Bisulphate tablets - take one before you go to bed. I find that I always seem to get cramp when I am cold.

Little Miss WRX

RB5320 - funny you should say that, but after my recent bout of tendonitis in my achilles heels and outside of my feet, I have been told by my physio that I need to have specially made soles to help me run correctly.
That could very well explain why I have been suffering less with cramps after having some temporary moulded insoles for my training shoes.
I have to go see a podiatrist for a more permanent solution, nevertheless, the improvement has been remarkable.

One of the most uncomfortable experiences a muscle cramping......I would always feel the twinge or fluttering of the muscle in the top of my calves.....then at approximately 2am the muscle would tighten and cramp....usually in one leg, but sometimes in both.
Grabbing hold of the muscle and tightening it used to ease it to the point where tears would stop rolling down my eyes. But for some reason I used to be out of action for three or more days. As I used to be training more or less every day, I used to wear support bandages at night to prevent this occurring. It didn't always work though.

RB5320

Miss WRX - in my case the improvement has been total. The specialist took a video of me running barefoot on a treadmill and then played it back in slow motion. You could see the ankles wobbling about pulling my calves all out of line. Wierd!
I got them to make me 2 sets - 1 for normal day to day and a more spongey set for sport.

Steve

Apparition

Sometimes a shortage of calcium can cause night cramps too.

Little Miss WRX

How much did they cost you?

My temporary soles have cost me AUS$60. I haven't yet had a price on a more permanent solution.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Some sound advice.

Glad there's others out there realing in pain in the early hours

Some people think I'm mad when I try to explain how bad it gets.

Leslie

What Mycroft said I reckon. I have had shock a few times mainly after falling off motor 'bikes and after nasty injuries. It is a horrible feeling but seems to pass again all of a sudden. Its a normal reaction anyway so no need to worry about it.

Les

Diablo

Not quite sure about Mycrofts response.

Nothing personal

Mycroft has said that "PLR is Primitive Learned Response... effectively your feeling of nausea is a lowering of blood pressure and the narrowing of blood vessels... this is done to minimise fluid loss"

Narrowing of the blood vessels would have the effect of increasing blood pressure.

The reason you feel nauseous and pass out is a result of a temporary reduction in the blood flow (and, therefore, oxygen) to the brain. This can lead to lightheadedness or a "black out" episode of loss of consciousness. There are many conditions which can temporarily impair the brain's blood supply.

In your case the this probably occurs because of a reflex of the involuntary nervous system (vasovagal reaction) that leads to slowing of the heart rate and dilation of the blood vessels in the legs, thus lowering the blood pressure. The result is that less blood (therefore less oxygen) reaches the brain as it is directed to the legs. In such cases patients often note nausea, sweating, or weakness just before the loss of consciousness occurs.

Tis reflex of the involunatry nervous system can be brought about by many causes. Such causes may include an injury to yourself of another.

Mycrofts example is not correct. You had no reaction until you saw the injury at which point you had this involuntary reflex.

The point put by Mycroft (although back to front) is more akin to when when neurologically you shut down due to serious trauma. Thats when the brain shuts down so it doesn't need the same blood oxygen volume, not because it doesn't get it.

My wife has the same reflex when she sees blood (as in more than a scratch) for example when I sliced my hand open and showed her.

Thats the technical reason.

In laymans terms, yeah, you are a wuss

Now, for the record I'm not going to argue the toss with anyone. I'll conclude by saying the above is medically correct having come from a qualified doctor. I'm not going to enter into any debate with anyone.

D

Terzo 333

Thanks Diablo (and everyone else) for your replies