Q: I put my finger on the carotid artery in the neck and applied some pressure, could this have damaged the brain by preventing the blood from getting to the brain? Does the brain prevent this kind of damage by making me faint if anything happens? Please answer, worried sick Thanks guys :)
A: No, you're fine. Brain cells aren't damaged until they're oxygen-starved for four minutes or longer. If your brain hadn't been getting enough oxygen, you would have passed out.