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The Inkspiller replied to the topic Research of less-than-desirable topics (wounds, wound complications, etc.) in the forum Fantasy Writers 6 years, 5 months ago
@urwen-starial So, I’m no expert on wounds inflicted by lycanthropes (lol), but I can say a little bit about animal bites and scratches.
Symptoms of local infection will be initially indistinguishable from the usual immune reaction to an open wound for the first twenty four hours. The thing about animal attacks is that animals are already quite filthy: a scratch or a cut from animal claws can fill the wound with whatever packed dirt, bacteria, or fungus that just happens to be growing on that claw; a bite will spread a lot of saliva over the wound, which is absolutely loaded with parasites and bacteria and will quickly lead to infection unless the wound is cleaned. Aside from that, getting dirt in it or sneezing on it – just about anything can cause infection in a wound.
Immediate first aid once the danger has passed would consist of cleansing the wound with clean water, vinegar, or alcohol, then applying a tight bandage around the wound to stem bleeding and keep it covered from any further contamination by your local dirt. Oak sap and juiced oak gall (a sort of apple-like tumor created by the larva of certain wasps that next in oak trees) are known astringents – that is they cause local tissues / cells to contract, reducing bleeding from wounds and promoting regeneration of tissue (the wound will close back together – albeit slowly. Like days); these substances would be useful in the absence of the skills or supplies necessary for stitching the wound closed. Along the same lines, it was common in the medieval era to pack wounds with poultices / compounds of different known and rumored healing agents, including anything from honey (a known antiseptic), turpentine (also an antiseptic, if one poisonous to ingest), to clay (river clay is generally cleaner than dirt due to the purifying action of running water), ground shellfish (I really don’t know), and spiderwebs (natural astringent / ooagulant and antiseptic).
A tourniquet could also be applied to reduce bleeding, as long as it’s monitored to ensure the extremities (i.e., fingers) aren’t turning blue due to lack of blood.












