# How Painful Would it be if Dexter Killed You? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071 "2010-11-18T05:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gus\_Handsome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@Gus\_Handsome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Handsome)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/1 "2010-11-18T05:03:28Z")
So you’re strapped down to a table, wide awake and someone plunges a knife right through your heart. Would the pain be a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10? How long would the pain last? What could the pain be compared to? Gus ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/2 "2010-11-18T05:09:52Z")
> [@Gus\_Handsome](#): > > So you’re strapped down to a table, wide awake and someone plunges a knife right through your heart. > Would the pain be a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10? > How long would the pain last? What could the pain be compared to? > > Gus And while we’re at it, how much less pain would you feel due to have woken up from a dose of [M99](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etorphine) 30 seconds earlier make it? (FTR, I suspect none as I don’t think pain killers do much for that type of pain). ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/3 "2010-11-18T07:04:43Z")
I’m pretty sure the pain described in the OP would be cranked up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/4 "2010-11-18T08:31:25Z")
People who have been stabbed int the heart and survive almost always say that they thought that they had [been punched](http://www.google.com.au/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&biw=1024&bih=551&q=%22having+sex+whe+I+was+12%22&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&biw=1024&bih=551&q=%22stabbed+in+the+heart%22+-lyrics++%22been+punched%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=30ae018d48516c74), that the blow knocked the wind out of them, but there was no sensation of great pain. So based on that, I’m guessing that it wouldn’t be all that painful at all. Heart attacks are painful because the heart muscle is dying from lack of oxygen, and even then the pain is usually not unbearable. In the case of a stab wound there is no tissue death, so I suspect that by the time you feel pain, you are unconscious. ---
**Author:** ![Aversin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Aversin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aversin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/5 "2010-11-18T08:51:43Z")
Um, I think you posted the wrong link Blake… ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/6 "2010-11-18T10:52:09Z")
You’re forgetting he’s dispatched people through other ways. Off hand the ones I remember are strangulation with a wire, hitting in the face with a claw hammer, slitting his brother’s throat while he was hanging upside down, and using a chainsaw (ouch). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/7 "2010-11-18T12:08:49Z")
> [@Aversin](#): > > Um, I think you posted the wrong link Blake… I think **Blake** meant to post that, as it pulled up numerous examples. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/8 "2010-11-18T12:33:31Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I think **Blake** meant to post that, as it pulled up numerous examples. Try hovering over the link. ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/9 "2010-11-18T19:26:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Try hovering over the link. I believe that was his last search. Would love to hear the story behind that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/10 "2010-11-18T19:43:56Z")
It probably doesn’t hurt that much going in. But you’d feel your heart muscle tearing itself apart against the knife as it vainly tried to pump, then you’d feel the warm wetness spreading through your chest cavity and up out of your chest wound. There’d probably be a few moments of sheer terror as you see a giant knife sticking out of your chest knowing you will be dead soon. You brain would soon go fuzzy as you lose consciousness, so probably not all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/11 "2010-11-18T20:26:36Z")
My last murder investigation before I retired was a single stab to the heart. Witnesses said the victim kind of put his hand over the wound and said, “I think he stabbed me” in a matter-of-fact way. He then slumped to the ground and spoke no more. No evidence of great pain. Talk about famous “last words”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/12 "2010-11-18T21:38:08Z")
In the end I suppose it comes down to how much he likes you. If he’s made you his “special friend” you’ve probably done something fairly nasty to attract his attention, and he will make damn sure you know why he’s doing these horrible things to you. Depending on what you did, it can go slowly or quickly depending on how bad you were(assuming he still only goes after “bad” people)\> ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-would-it-be-if-dexter-killed-you/561071/13 "2010-11-18T21:39:50Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > It probably doesn’t hurt that much going in. But you’d feel your heart muscle tearing itself apart against the knife as it vainly tried to pump, then you’d feel the warm wetness spreading through your chest cavity and up out of your chest wound. There’d probably be a few moments of sheer terror as you see a giant knife sticking out of your chest knowing you will be dead soon Your mileage may vary of course, [play dom-jot, Controvert](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HSsYqGqZBhg/SrPvUPQenVI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/VhZmoyleQA4/s400/ST-TNG_Tapestry.jpg)?