Symptoms of a Serious Head Injury
Millions of people suffer from head injuries every year. Fortunately for many, the knock isn’t severe – it merely results in a small cut or bruise. The skull probably did its job well and protected the brain. You can breathe a sigh of relief if the person is conscious or has minor scrapes on the head.
However, watch out for feelings of nausea, headaches, mild swelling, or a little dizziness. This is expected after a bit of a bash to the head, so there’s no need to worry. Make sure you can’t spot any severe symptoms before you leave the patient.
Observation
If your child has sustained a minor head injury, keep a close eye on them for 48 hours. Symptoms can worsen with time. Try to comfort them as well as you can and wake them up repeatedly in the night to check that they haven’t fallen unconscious. Let them stay up later than usual, so you have an opportunity to pick up any warning signs.
If you have suffered a minor head injury yourself, you should call a close member of family or a friend. Ask them to stay with you for 48 hours. This may mean a film night in and some time off work, if you need it. Ask them to monitor you and take this as an opportunity to spend some quality time together. Let them know what to look out for and make sure that they have access to a phone.
Serious Symptoms
If you notice any of the following symptoms, treat the incident as a serious head injury and immediately seek medical attention:
No matter how short or prolonged the bout of unconsciousness is, the brain has encountered some serious damage, so contact a doctor as soon as possible. Try to rouse the patient to consciousness if you can, but contact emergency services. Alternatively, the patient could be struggling to stay awake – this is a bad sign, especially at an unusual time of day. If you can, keep them awake until the professionals arrive.
If the patient starts having a seizure or fit, this is an obvious sign of severe head trauma. Likewise, difficulty speaking, understanding speech, or vision problems are all indicative of severe symptoms. Be concerned if any normal mental processes are hampered, such as reading, writing, memory, control of limbs, or walking. Seek medical attention immediately.
Other symptoms that show severe mental trauma include clear fluid emanating from their nose or ears – this could be the cerebrospinal fluid that usually surrounds the brain. Blood from these areas is also worrying. Bruising around the eyes or behind the ears, when there was no harm caused to these areas is another symptom of severe head trauma. Try to remember the events leading up to the accident for the doctors and if you need to make a brain injury claim.
Pay attention to any drastic differences in emotional behaviour, any repeated vomiting, or a prolonged headache. Severe open wounds obviously need medical attention too, so call the emergency services as soon as possible.
