biomedicalephemera:

Superficial (Fig 1) and deep (Fig 2) anatomy of the neck

As you can see in the illustrations, unlike most of the body, the head and neck have a LOT of blood and lymphatic vessels near the surface, in addition to beneath the muscles and fascia. This is one of the many reasons it’s so easy to cut an artery in the neck, or cause serious damage by blunt trauma to the region.

It’s also why the scalp and face bleed so much when cut – there are more surface blood vessels there than the rest of the body.


An Atlas of Surgical Apparatus. Henry Thomas Chapman, 1832.