Head Injury

I had a serious fall earlier this day. It was raining and the floor was slippery. I lost balance and fell on the left hitting my head hard. I heard a nasty "thud" sound. I was not able to get up quickly because I passed out for seconds. When I was able to see, although blurry, I immediately got up but it felt different. I had difficulty breathing. I went to the kitchen and sat for a while. After a few moments I passed out again. My grandmother had me lay down while she was wiping dirt off my head and leg. I had scraped my leg and bruised my wrists. My head hurt so much.

I went to the hospital for a check up because it was the first time I hit my head that hard and the first time I got drowsy because of a fall. The doctor asked me several questions including if I vomited and still feel dizzy. The doctor requested me to have a skull x-ray just to check if I have fracture.

After a few minutes of waiting for the result, the doctor said my skull does not have any fracture. I gave a sigh of relief. For extra precautions, he instructed me to come back if ever I will vomit several times and feel extra sleepy within 24 hours. He ordered me to take medicine for head ache.

Head injury is a trauma involving the scalp, skull or brain. It can be categorized as closed or open head injury. The first category does not have fracture while the latter involves fracture and visible wounds.

Suspect a head injury if the following symptoms are present:

* Becomes very drowsy or dizzy

* Behaves abnormally

* Develops severe headache or stiff neck

* Loses consciousness even briefly

* Vomits more than once

To know more about head injuries, click here.

And be careful when walking on slippery roads and pavements.