Recovery period

Misa Buckley · Nov 22, 2009

The MMC of my sci fi novel makes his entrance when he's rescued from an attack. I know the proceedure for dealing with his wounds and the infection stemming from them, but I've not been able to find a reasonable timeframe for the overall healing process.

Basically he was clawed by a creature across the chest. His shoulder received the brunt of the blow, so he'll need physiotherapy for that, but it's the claw wounds that are causing me to go "huh?" right now.

How long would deep scratches really take to heal, given the people he's with know enough about debridement to keep the wounds clean? I know there'll be levels, as if were, but I need to know how soon he'd be able to move around (with some pain) as well as the longer timeframe.

Any help is appreciated

Shakesbear · Nov 22, 2009

How deep is deep? How much damage has the scratch caused? Are muscles damaged? If he moves about too much during the healing process he stands a good chance of opening the wound up and slowing the process down. I don't think there is a standard time for healing - people heal at their own rate. A friend who had the same procedure as me was in bed for a week after it - I was walking about the next day. Wobbling but walking!

RJK · Nov 22, 2009

If he has muscle damage to his shoulder, it could take months to recover. Time to heal and then physical therapy to return the shoulder to use. It took me two months of PT to overcome an inflamed tendon from a bone spur.
Damaged pectorals would affect his ability to lift or hold anything. Same problem there, healing time plus PT to strengthen them.
Realistically, 3 months to get him back to normal - for your book, you might trim a month off that.

Misa Buckley · Nov 23, 2009

Shakesbear said:
How deep is deep? How much damage has the scratch caused? Are muscles damaged?

Originally I'd planned on very deep, but realised the odds of him surviving weren't great (or believable). I'm trying to strike a balance between serious enough to frustrate the heck out of him but not so that he's useless as the story picks up.

If he moves about too much during the healing process he stands a good chance of opening the wound up and slowing the process down.

Yeah, that happens. He's stubborn.

I don't think there is a standard time for healing - people heal at their own rate. A friend who had the same procedure as me was in bed for a week after it - I was walking about the next day. Wobbling but walking!

That's a good point. He is the sort of person to push himself, probably beyond the limitations of his body. I'm just going to have to try stop him from killing himself in the process

RJK said:
Damaged pectorals would affect his ability to lift or hold anything. Same problem there, healing time plus PT to strengthen them.

Hm, that might be a problem. I'm going to have to look at the timeframe of events in my novel and see if I have to pull back on his injuries a little.

Thanks for you help, guys. It's greatly appreciated

Recovery period

Misa Buckley

Extraordinary Romance

Shakesbear

knows a hawk from a handsaw

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

Misa Buckley

Extraordinary Romance