Tongue cut out 2 part question

GreenEpic · Oct 10, 2011

Would a person survive if the tip of their tongue was cut out and recieved no medical attention? No more than the inch-long tip. Would they bleed too much and choke on the blood? Is this survivable at all?

Also, would they be able to speak, drink, and eat without the tip of their tongue?

Selcaby · Oct 11, 2011

Define "no medical attention". Is the wound even dressed at all? You can bleed to death from a severed tongue.

Even if they survive, they're not going to be speaking intelligibly.

As for food, depends what's available. They might need a liquid diet while the stump heals. After that they might be OK.

Maryn · Oct 11, 2011

"Harvest Home" by Tryon has a character whose tongue is cut off and the wound tended by non-medical people. And "A Game of Thrones" does as well.

It's not specified in either one how much tongue is removed. In Harvest Home they mention that the wound was stitched up. The character was quite disabled, stay-in-bed weak for months, and continued to have trouble eating, choking often. I no longer remember if he ever resumed his previous activities.

Losing the last inch is going to leave a pretty severe speech impediment. The person will be able to make the lip sounds and the open sounds but none of the consonants which use the tongue, like D, TH, S, G, TCH, L, N and maybe others. (Good thing I'm sitting here alone making these unintelligible noises, rather than at the library or office, huh?)

I would think that even after healing, they're going to have issues moving food around in their mouth and may need to modify their diet and the size of each bite.

Maryn, who'll keep her tongue, if that's okay

GreenEpic · Oct 12, 2011

Thanks for responding!
The tongue is severed by a knife, but only the tip, not entire length someone can stick out, but a peice of it.

The victim is left alone afterwards, having only herself to tend to the wound. How should she care for it?

So, do you assume she will at least be able to grunt enough to explain who attacked her?

What is important is that she doesn't die. The only info I have found describes people either bleeding out or choking to death on the blood.

This severing is more of a symbolic act of silencing her rather than killing her or actually rendering her mute.

LauraAnnSwanson · Oct 12, 2011

Okay... this outs me for the redneck that I am/was...lol

My cousin was on a 1200 acre ranch hunting deer, and fell asleep and fell out of his blind. He bit off the last 1.5 inches of his tongue. Not wanting to give up his weekend hunting, and figuring there was nothing that could be done about it, he stuck it out andput his handkercheif around the nub and bit down on it, and it stopped the blood flow after a while.

He did end up getting dizzy and sick that night and leaving to go get it looked at (by his wife's cousin who was a vet) who told him to go get stitches, but he never did, and he is fine.

You can't understand a word he says, but with his accent, you really couldn't before, anyway. "D

GreenEpic · Oct 12, 2011

This was super helpful! Thank you!

LauraAnnSwanson · Oct 12, 2011

Glad I could help!

Rob Lefebvre · Nov 8, 2011

Not sure how much it would impact speech or eating, but I can't assume it would be eating. I would also think as long as you kept your head down, so blood would exit out your mouth there would be not a huge danger of choking on the blood. I would think it is the same sort of concept as putting a drunk friend on their side when they go to sleep.

It was stated before, but you should be able to stop the blood by putting something over it and biting down. I imagine it would be incredibly painful.

Tongue cut out 2 part question

GreenEpic

...because you don't know yourself

Selcaby

Writer of wrongs

Maryn

At Sea

GreenEpic

...because you don't know yourself

LauraAnnSwanson

Oracle of Poultry

GreenEpic

...because you don't know yourself

LauraAnnSwanson

Oracle of Poultry

Rob Lefebvre

Ass kicker