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Author: aurora369

Jun 12th 2012 at 12:23:02 PM

Infection: this bad stuff can happed even to the less dangerous wounds. There are two major kinds of deadly infection: tetanus and gangrene.

Tetanus (a.k.a. lockjaw) develops when a certain kind of bacteria gets into the wound. This germ is found mostly in dung. The wound heals and the patient thinks everything is over, then tetanus starts. It involves spasms and gradual paralysis and is not pretty. Fortunately, tetanus shots are quite common nowadays.

Gangrene happens in deep, soil-contaminated wounds with no access to air. Bullet and stab wounds are especially likely to cause it. It is characterized by swelling, necrosis, bad smell, releasing toxins into blood and spreading in the direction of your venous blood flow really fast. The treatment is cutting it out if it didn't manage to spread far, or amputation if it's too late for less drastic surgery. Those Civil War era sawbones who went around lopping off limbs with saws weren't sadists; they were treating gangrene. Antibiotics alone do not help. By the way, it's the same kind of infection that happens in gut wounds. Gangrene can also be a result of frostbite.