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Head Injury advice

Many people, particularly children, injure their heads.

It is unusual for there to be any underlying damage if the person is conscious (awake) and there is no deep cut or severe head damage. Almost everybody recovers from such an injury without any problem.

Children are sometimes a little drowsy and may want to sleep. This is quite alright as long as they can be woken up in the usual way and react as you would expect them to. If you are concerned about a head injury just before a child's bedtime you can always waken them after an hour or so and make sure they react normally.

Children may feel sick and vomit once or twice after the injury. A mild headache is not unusual and there may be some local bruising. One dose of paracetamol medicine will help if the headache is troublesome, and is quite safe.

Very rarely after a more severe injury there can be internal bleeding which can cause increasing symptoms over the next day or so. Danger signs of more serious injury are:

• Disorientation, confusion or odd behaviour.
• Increasing drowsiness - so it is difficult to rouse the person.
• Repeated vomiting.
• Severe and increasing headache.
• Double vision (Note: true double vision vanishes when one eye is covered)

If your child shows any of these signs or you have other worries please ring Dorchester 251128 to talk to the nurse or doctor.

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