Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to

unconsciousness Unconsciousness is a state in which a living individual exhibits a complete, or near-complete, inability to maintain an consciousness, awareness of self and environment or to respond to any human or environmental Stimulus (physiology), stimulus. ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

by causing an increasingly

hypoxic Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to: Reduced or insufficient oxygen * Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment * Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the t ...

state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

causes death (alongside breaking the victim's neck). Strangling does not have to be fatal; limited or interrupted strangling is practised in

erotic asphyxia Erotic asphyxiation (variously called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia or breath control play) is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done b ...

, in the

choking game The choking game or blackout challenge is the act of intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing temporary loss of consciousness and euphoria. Reasons for practice Limited research has been conducted regarding motivat ...

, and is an important technique in many

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

s and

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

systems. Strangling can be divided into three general types according to the mechanism used: *

Hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

—Suspension from a cord wound around the neck * Ligature strangulation—Strangulation without suspension using some form of cord-like object called a

garrote A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and similar variants''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spellin ...

* Manual strangulation—Strangulation using the fingers or other extremity

General

Strangling involves one or several mechanisms that interfere with the normal flow of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

into the brain: *Compression of the

carotid arteries In anatomy, the left and right common carotid arteries (carotids) (Entry "carotid"
in
jugular veins The jugular veins are veins that take deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid mus ...

—causing

cerebral ischemia Brain ischemia is a condition in which there is insufficient bloodflow to the brain to meet metabolic demand. This leads to poor oxygen supply or cerebral hypoxia and thus leads to the death of brain tissue or cerebral infarction/ischemic stroke. ...

. *Compression of the

laryngopharynx The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its struc ...

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

, or

trachea The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a Cartilage, cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air-breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends ...

—causing

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

. *Stimulation of the

carotid sinus reflex In human anatomy, the carotid sinus is a dilated area at the base of the internal carotid artery just superior to the bifurcation of the internal carotid and external carotid at the level of the superior border of thyroid cartilage. The carotid ...

—causing

bradycardia Bradycardia (also sinus bradycardia) is a slow resting heart rate, commonly under 60 beats per minute (BPM) as determined by an electrocardiogram. It is considered to be a normal heart rate during sleep, in young and healthy or elderly adults, a ...

hypotension Hypotension is low blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. Blood pressure is indicated by two numbers, the systolic blood pressure (the top number) and the dias ...

, or both. Depending on the particular method of strangulation, one or several of these typically occur in combination; vascular obstruction is usually the main mechanism. Complete obstruction of blood flow to the brain is associated with irreversible neurological damage and

,Koiwai, Karl
How Safe is Choking in Judo?
''judoinfo.com''. URL last accessed 3 March 2006. but during strangulation there is still unimpeded blood flow in the

vertebral arteries The vertebral arteries are major arteries of the neck. Typically, the vertebral arteries originate from the subclavian arteries. Each vessel courses superiorly along each side of the neck, merging within the skull to form the single, midline ba ...

.Reay, Donald; Eisele, John
Death from law enforcement neck holds
''www.charlydmiller.com''.URL last accessed 3 March 2006 Estimates have been made that significant occlusion of the

occurs with a pressure of around , while the

demands six times more at approximately .Gunther, Wendy
On Chokes (Medical)
with quotations from Spitz and Fisher's ''Medicolegal Investigation of Death: Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation''. ''www.aikiweb.com''. URL last accessed 3 March 2006. As in all cases of strangulation, the rapidity of death can be affected by the susceptibility to

carotid sinus stimulation In human anatomy, the carotid sinus is a dilated area at the base of the internal carotid artery just superior to the bifurcation of the internal carotid and external carotid at the level of the superior border of thyroid cartilage. The carotid s ...

. Carotid sinus reflex death is sometimes considered a mechanism of death in cases of strangulation, but it remains highly disputed. The reported time from application to

varies from 7–14 seconds if effectively applied Koiwai, Karl
Deaths Allegedly Caused by the Use of "Choke Holds" (Shime-Waza)
''judoinfo.com'' URL last accessed 3 March 2006. to one minute in other cases, with death occurring minutes after unconsciousness.

Manual strangulation

Manual strangulation (also known as "throttling") is strangling with the hands, fingers, or other extremities and sometimes also with blunt objects, such as batons. Depending on how the strangling is performed, it may compress the

airway The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa. Air is breathed in through the nose to th ...

, interfere with the flow of blood in the neck, or work as a combination of the two. Consequently, manual strangulation may damage the

and fracture the

hyoid The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical vertebra. ...

or other bones in the neck. In cases of airway compression, manual strangling leads to the frightening sensation of

air hunger Shortness of breath (SOB), also medically known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing disc ...

and may induce violent struggling. Manual strangulation is common in situations of domestic violence, and is regarded by experts as an especially severe form of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, due to its extremely frightening and potentially lethal nature, and an observed correlation between non-fatal strangulation in domestic violence and future homicide. Manual strangulation also has a history as a form of capital punishment, during the 18th century, a sentence of "Death by Throttling" would be passed upon the verdict of a

Court Martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for the crime of desertion from the British Army. More technical variants of manual strangulation are referred to as strangleholds, or

chokehold A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza ( ja, 絞技, translation=constriction technique) is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air (choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' ( ...

s (despite the term " choke" more technically referring to internal airway restriction), and are extensively practised and used in various

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

systems, and in military

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

application. In some martial arts like

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, and

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

, when applied correctly and released promptly after loss of consciousness, strangleholds that constrict blood flow are regarded as a safer means to render an opponent unconscious, when compared to other methods, especially strikes to the head, the latter of which can cause potentially catastrophic or fatal and irreversible

brain injuries Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

much more quickly and unpredictably.

Ligature strangulation

Ligature strangulation (also known as "garroting") is strangling with some form of cord such as rope, wire, chain, or shoelaces, either partially or fully circumferencing the neck.Turvey, Brent (1996)
A guide to the physical analysis of ligature patterns in homicide investigations
Knowledge Solutions Library, Electronic Publication. ''www.corpus-delicti.com''. URL last accessed 1 March 2006. Even though the mechanism of strangulation is similar, it is usually distinguished from

by the strangling force being something other than the person's own body weight. Incomplete occlusion of the

carotid arteries In anatomy, the left and right common carotid arteries (carotids) (Entry "carotid"
in
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

, the victim may struggle for a period of time, with unconsciousness typically occurring in 10 to 15 seconds. Cases of ligature strangulation generally involve homicides of women, children, and the elderly. Compared to hanging, the ligature mark will most likely be located lower on the neck of the victim. During the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

, victims who admitted their alleged sins and recanted were killed via ligature strangulation (i.e. the

) before their bodies were burnt during the ''

auto-da-fé An ''auto-da-fé'' ( ; from Portuguese , meaning 'act of faith'; es, auto de fe ) was the ritual of public penance carried out between the 15th and 19th centuries of condemned heretics and apostates imposed by the Spanish, Portuguese, or Mexi ...

''.Reston, James Jr. ''Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors.'' Doubleday, 2005. . Throughout much of the 20th and 21st centuries, the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

used ligature strangulation as a means of murdering their victims. Confessed American

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Altemio Sanchez used ligature strangulation in the rapes and/or murders of his victims, as did the Green River Killer,

Gary Ridgway Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, brin ...

, and British serial killer

Dennis Nilsen Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of ...

References

Sources

* Basic reference on judo choking techniques. {{Authority control Abuse Violence Execution methods

General

Manual strangulation

Ligature strangulation

See also

References

Sources