Head Injury – Things to Know
Head Injury – Things to Know
Head injury is the injury pertaining to the brain, skull or scalp. It can be of any kind or range from a bruise or bump to a traumatic brain injury. Moreover, head injuries can be of two types, either closed or open. Closed head injury is known as any injury that doesn’t break the skull.
On the other hand, open injury is very critical, which sometimes breaks your skull and scalp and damage the brain as well. Sometimes, it’s hard to analyse how severe a head injury is? Many a time, minor head injuries bleed a lot. But some major injuries don’t bleed at all. Hence, in any case, minor or major head injuries, it must be consulted by a doctor.
What causes a head injury?
A head injury can be caused by shaking or due to blows to the head. Head injuries caused by shaking are the minor and common in small children and infants. On the other hand, head injuries caused by a blow to the head are major. It can be due to a fall from stairs, car accidents, physical assaults, athlete sports accidents, and so on.
How to deal with it?
Treatment and first aid are essential for any kind of head injuries because minor can become severe in no time. In case if you are suffering from mild head injuries, then you can cure it by applying a cold pack to the swelling area. In this case, you should ask someone to keep an eye on you for the first 24 hours. If you lose consciousness or show some sign of memory loss, then you should immediately go to the doctor.
Well, severe head injuries need medical attention. If symptoms of head injuries are found, you must call the local emergency number for help and must sit in one particular place. Furthermore, severe head injuries require to admit in hospital. Precautions are much needed in severe head injuries.
What are the symptoms of head injury?
Head contains more blood than any other part of the body. If any particular part of the brain is bleeding, then it’s a severe head injury. Hence, you must know about the various symptoms of head injury. You must always monitor these symptoms for many days in case of head injuries.
Common symptoms of minor head injury are as follows
- Spinning sensation
- Headache
- Light-headedness
- Mild confusion
- Temporary ringing in the areas
- Nausea
Symptoms of a severe head injury are as follow
- Seizures
- Vomiting
- Leaking of fluid from the ear or the nose
- Loss of consciousness
- Abnormal eye movements
- Serious disorientation
- An inability to focus the eyes
- Changes in mood
- Memory loss
When should you see a doctor?
A head injury should be taken seriously because you never know a small injury can be very dangerous. If you are suffering from a head injury and suffering from worsening sleepiness, repeated vomiting, having difficult in using arms or legs, or severe headache then you must immediately see to the doctor.