What is a Head Injury?
A head injury is any sort of injury to your brain, skull, or scalp. This can range from a mild bump or bruise to a traumatic brain injury.
Children and adolescents with concussion can take up to four weeks to recover, but most concussions will get better on their own over several days.
- Severe headaches
- Vomited more than twice
- Memory problems
- Blackouts
- A seizure (fit or spasm of arms, legs or face)
- Difficulty staying awake
- Blood or clear fluid coming from your ears or nose
Common symptoms of a minor head injury include:
- Drowsiness when you would normally be wide awake (but see below).
- Worsening headache – which does not go away with paracetamol (but see below).
- Confusion, strange behaviour, and any problems with understanding or speaking.
- Inability to remember events before or after the head injury.
- Being sick.
- a headache
- Loss of use of part of the body – for example, weakness in an arm or a leg.
- Speech difficulties.
Care at Home
- vomiting more than once
- bleeding or any discharge from the ear or nose
- fits/seizures/twitching/convulsions
- blurred or double vision
- poor coordination or clumsiness
- any new arm or leg weakness, or any existing weakness that gets worse or does not improve
- difficulty swallowing or coughing when eating or drinking
- sensitivity to noise
- slurred or unclear speech