Head Injury, Age 4 and Older

Many things can affect how your body responds to a symptom and what kind of care you may need. These include:

• Your age. Babies and older adults tend to get sicker quicker.
• Your overall health. If you have a condition such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, or heart disease, you may need to pay closer attention to certain symptoms and seek care sooner.
• Medicines you take. Certain medicines, such as blood thinners (anticoagulants), medicines that suppress the immune system like steroids or chemotherapy, herbal remedies, or supplements can cause symptoms or make them worse.
• Recent health events, such as surgery or injury. These kinds of events can cause symptoms afterwards or make them more serious.
• Your health habits and lifestyle, such as eating and exercise habits, smoking, alcohol or drug use, sexual history, and travel.

Symptoms of a spinal cord injury in an adult or older child may include:

• Severe neck or back pain.
• Not being able to move a part of the body. (This is not the same as being unable to move because of pain or because of a direct injury to that area.)
• Weakness, tingling, or numbness in the arms or legs.
• New loss of bowel or bladder control.

Symptoms of a skull fracture may include:

• Clear or bloody fluid draining from the ears or nose.
• Bruising under the eyes or behind the ears.
• Drooping of the face.
• A dent anywhere on the head.

The symptoms of a skull fracture may appear at the time of the injury or hours or days later.

Shock is a life-threatening condition that may quickly occur after a sudden illness or injury.

Adults and older children often have several symptoms of shock. These include:

• Passing out (losing consciousness).
• Feeling very dizzy or lightheaded, like you may pass out.
• Feeling very weak or having trouble standing.
• Not feeling alert or able to think clearly. You may be confused, restless, fearful, or unable to respond to questions.

Symptoms of a serious head injury may include:

• Passing out.
• Confusion.
• Extreme sleepiness.
• Unsteady walking.
• Slurred speech.
• A difference in the size of the pupils of the eyes.
• New vision problems.

Other symptoms related to a head injury that may appear later include:

• Repeated episodes of feeling dizzy or lightheaded.
• Changes in mood or personality. For a baby or toddler, you may notice this as the child being a lot fussier than normal.
• Changes in the ability to concentrate and listen.
• Ringing in the ears.

With severe bleeding, any of these may be true:

• Blood is pumping from the wound.
• The bleeding does not stop or slow down with pressure.
• Blood is quickly soaking through bandage after bandage.

With moderate bleeding, any of these may be true:

• The bleeding slows or stops with pressure but starts again if you remove the pressure.
• The blood may soak through a few bandages, but it is not fast or out of control.

With mild bleeding, any of these may be true:

• The bleeding stops on its own or with pressure.
• The bleeding stops or slows to an ooze or trickle after 15 minutes of pressure. It may ooze or trickle for up to 45 minutes.