# Question about strangulation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080 "2011-02-11T23:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/1 "2011-02-11T23:59:26Z")
It’s for something I’m writing… if someone is strangling you and you’re rescued before you actually die, can you still die from the damage they did or are you pretty much guaranteed to pull through once they aren’t choking you anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/2 "2011-02-12T00:18:23Z")
IANAD, but your body/brain can get damaged from lack of oxygen. You might survive but be a vegetable, for example. There are countless stories of people who get permanent damage from lack of oxygen. But yes, literally as the question is written, if strangulation stops before death, you won’t die. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/3 "2011-02-12T00:27:29Z")
I think you’d be ok once you were breathing again, as long as your windpipe wasn’t crushed or other damage. Is your victim being strangled manually, or with a garrote of some kind? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/4 "2011-02-12T04:17:19Z")
I’m trying to find a way for someone to be in a gonna-die situation that requires that a vampire bring them over to be a vampire to save their life. Due to the situation, something like a gunshot or a stabbing might be a little contrived. The character is a stripper who is attacked for not performing sex while doing a private show at either a hotel or a private home (haven’t decided). The vampire (a friend, and acting as backup) is waiting outside unbeknownst to the attacker, and comes in in time to stop her being raped and murdered… but in order to save her he has to turn her into a vampire. So I gotta come up with a way for her to be in danger of dying. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/5 "2011-02-12T06:10:24Z")
Again, IANAD, but I think it’s losing consciousness that’s the most dangerous in a strangling situation. If you remain conscious, you’ll probably be okay (if sore, and possibly hoarse), but if you black out, you’re quite likely much closer to death. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/6 "2011-02-12T06:50:07Z")
You can crush someone’s larynx while strangling them, [which can be fatal](http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67660960.html). The death would probably still be strangulation, more or less, but the air supply would be blocked by swollen/displaced tissue or bleeding into the lungs. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/7 "2011-02-12T15:11:47Z")
Maybe in the struggle she can fall on the corner of the coffee table or something and seriously whack open her head and start losing lots of blood… would that seem more “oh no, she’s gonna die!” like than strangulation? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/8 "2011-02-12T15:17:25Z")
If the strangler broke her [hyoid bone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoid_bone), vamping would be the only recourse, unless he had an intubation tray handy. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/9 "2011-02-12T16:45:32Z")
It depends on you they’re being strangled. If the strangle was a blood choke, meaning that the carotid arteries were clamped off, they’ll regain consciousness and generally be no worse for the wear so long as they weren’t strangled long enough to cause brain damage. If it was an air choke, meaning that the windpipe was occluded, they could be sore but unharmed, or they could (as stated above) suffer damage to the larnyx and/or hyoid bone, and possibly asphyxiate. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/10 "2011-02-12T19:06:12Z")
Oops - make that “Depends on how they’re being strangled.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/11 "2011-02-12T19:40:20Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Maybe in the struggle she can fall on the corner of the coffee table or something and seriously whack open her head and start losing lots of blood… would that seem more “oh no, she’s gonna die!” like than strangulation? Another of the great vampire mysteries. A vampire can save your life when you are bleeding to death by sucking more blood out of you. If you are going this route, make sure to throw in the word ‘ironic’ somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/12 "2011-02-12T19:41:32Z")
Couldn’t there be some serious swelling due to crushing? I’m picturing someone choking your victim hard enough to prevent them from breathing, not the artery choking one. That’s a lot of strength there, a lot of pressure on the throat tissues, even once the pressure was removed wouldn’t there be swelling and bruising? Enough swelling to make it to hard to get enough oxygen, resulting in the brain damage or death. Therefore the friendly neighborhood vampire can either watch her slowly whistle to death waiting on the EMTs or he can turn her. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/13 "2011-02-14T00:58:37Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Another of the great vampire mysteries. A vampire can save your life when you are bleeding to death by sucking more blood out of you. If you are going this route, make sure to throw in the word ‘ironic’ somewhere. Err, no, the vampire puts blood INTO you, not takes more out. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/14 "2011-02-14T01:25:40Z")
Blunt force trauma so great that only the amazing healing powers of vampire blood can set her right? ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/15 "2011-02-14T01:32:01Z")
Blood loss would be useful because if it’s just a crushed airway she could always be saved by Macgyver jabbing the casing of a ball point pen into her throat, and a vampire would not be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/16 "2011-02-14T01:46:48Z")
Does it matter as far as plausibility’s sake, as long as the vampire is not a train physician? If the vampire doesn’t know any better they might _think_ the person was in mortal danger and/or dying, and make them a vampire unnecessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/17 "2011-02-14T04:10:36Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Err, no, the vampire puts blood INTO you, not takes more out. Really?? Then what about all those shows and movies about good vampires who keep stocks of blood in the fridge so they don’t have to feed on humans? Perhaps the vampire mythos has changed since I last paid attention, which to be honest is never. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/18 "2011-02-14T04:15:00Z")
How 'bout a broken neck? That could paralyze your respiratory system and make you asphyxiate. It happens pretty fast, though. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Really?? Then what about all those shows and movies about good vampires who keep stocks of blood in the fridge so they don’t have to feed on humans? > > Perhaps the vampire mythos has changed since I last paid attention, which to be honest is never. I think Anne Rice started the whole “drink your blood = kill you; put blood into you = make you a vampire” thing, if I’m not mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/19 "2011-02-14T04:37:53Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I think Anne Rice started the whole “drink your blood = kill you; put blood into you = make you a vampire” thing, if I’m not mistaken. Nope. A little-known author by the name of Bram Stoker did it first. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080/20 "2011-02-14T05:33:59Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Nope. A little-known author by the name of Bram Stoker did it first. Ah. Didn’t know that. Never heard of it until Rice’s series. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-strangulation/571080.md?page=2)