eli5: how come when someone gets cut in the neck, blood comes out like it’s from a hose and people faint quickly? Does blood travel fast in that area?
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The neck has the Jugular Vein which is responsible for being blood from your heart to your brain. You can also feel your pulse there. There is a lot of pressure and blood flow moving through that vein. That’s why it come out like a hose as you put it.
If I’m wrong, someone please correct me. I’m not a doctor
You brain requires a lot of oxygen and such, which is all transmited via blood, so a lot of blood has to travel to your brain, which all goes via only a few veins so they are very thic with a lot of blood traceling through
Those are your jugular veins. They’re the main entry and exit road of blood to and from your brain, and their importance is shown during one of these injuries. With no blood coming through those veins (on each side of your neck) your brain will quickly become deoxygenated from the present blood becoming “stale”, this particular wound loses too much blood, though, so when you faint you basically just die all at the same time.
Edit: my terminology is off, refer to the reply to this made by u/v1perz53
No, both of you are wrong, it’s because there’s only blood there, and the neck is like a blood station, and it has a connectivity of Bluetooth 6.0 so the neck is the Bluetooth station for the whole body to receive Bluetooth blood
Arteries (which move oxygenated blood away from the heart & lungs to the body) are more vulnerable in the neck (and a few other places) because they are closer to the surface and not covered by anything (depending on the position of one’s neck & head). For example if you tilt your head back past vertical your artery slides behind cartilage. If you bend your wrist back past straight your artery dies the same.
Blood only takes 60 seconds to travel through your entire body, but speed isn’t shat causes the squirting, it’s the pressure. Your brain needs a lot of oxygen and nutrients, so as a result it gets a lot of blood. Your head is also above your heart, so your heart has to do a lot of work to get the blood up there, which means a lot of force (pressure) pushing the blood up into the neck. When there’s a hole for the blood to escape, instead of the blood going up to the brain, it goes out the hole.
The neck provides blood flow to the head connection to the head. Inside of it are the carotid artery and jugular veins. These circulate blood to the very very blood intensive brain.
They’re relatively big so even even bleeding from a vein like the jugular is bad.
There’s generally 3 different “looks” with most bleeding. Capillary which is the tiny little nearly single cell width blood vessels. That’s like a paper cut. Slowly kind of just show up. Dab a little blood and it’s gone.
Veinous which is on well, a vein. These return the blood and are generally lower pressure. It’s where blood draws are from. They bleed pretty well but most of the time not spectacularly.
Arterial bleeding is where things get all horror movie like. This is the higher pressure delivery system of blood. It can literally spray blood out.
All arteries will spurt. Blood is under higher pressure than in veins. There are a few large high pressure arteries that are even more significant because the volume pumping through will allow you to bleed out quickly. Think a large firehouse burying compared to a straw. Carotid artery, femoral arteries and radial arteries are the ones most likely to be severed by a large cut.
Your heart is a big ass pump. The biggest hose/pipeline that comes out of that pump goes right to your brain via your neck. Think of it as a water main, compared to a hose that gives water to your sink. It is high volume and high pressure, right out of the pump.
If you cut that, you are in deep shit for 2 reasons. 1, That pump is moving a lot of liquid (blood) and cutting the water main will make you lose a lot of blood fast. 2. Your brain needs a lot of fresh blood, and when that flow stops, or that pressure drops, you pass out.
Cutting you jugular or carotid artery usually will mean you pass out inside 10 seconds, and can be dead shortly there after.
The artery that carries blood to your brain is under more pressure than most blood vessels in your body because the brain uses a lot of blood and it’s usually at the highest point in your body. There is a big artery in each arm and leg that would do the same thing if they were cut. If you think of it like roads the arteries are like freeways but most roads have less cars and lower speed limits
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