Is it possible to bleed to death from tongue piercing?
e-mail question:
The first guy I saw said I would puncture an artery or vein and bleed
to death. So is it true that it's possible to pierce an artery and bleed
to death?
e-mail reply:
It is possible to bleed to death, but exceptionally rare. The mode of
death is called disseminated intravascular coagulation. Basically you
bleed so much that you lose the ability to properly control bleeding.
You need to lose many pints of blood to do this. (To put this in perspective remember that one pint of blood will cover about five square yards of ground!) We are talking major bleeding here, usually only seen in war or in major motor vehicle accidents..
Follow First Aid principles to avoid this situation developing: If a tongue piercing is bleeding it is nearly always possible to apply pressure to the bleeding point. In 5 to 30 minutes the bleeding will stop. If it does not stop, seek medical advice.
Revised 3 February 2003
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