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Symptoms of Head injury

Not all head injuries cause damage to the brain, but even a minor head injury can have symptoms including:

  • nausea, 
  • headaches, 
  • eye problems (e.g. double vision),
  • dizziness, 
  • memory problems, 
  • extreme tiredness, and
  • anxiety and depression (while recovering).

Signs of serious head injuries, concussion or damage to the brain include:

  • Lasting headache that gets worse or is still present over six hours after the injury;
  • Extreme difficulty in staying awake, or still being sleepy several hours after the injury. It is fine to let children go to sleep after a slight bump to the head, but you should check on them regularly and make sure you are able to wake them.
  • Nausea and vomiting several hours after the injury;
  • Unconsciousness or coma;
  • Unequal pupil size;
  • Confusion, feeling lost or dizzy, or difficulty making sense when talking;
  • Pale yellow fluid or watery blood, coming from the ears or nose (this suggests a skull fracture);
  • Bleeding from the scalp that cannot be quickly stopped; 
  • Not being able to use part of the body, such as weakness in an arm or leg;
  • Difficulty seeing or double vision;
  • Slurred speech; and 
  • Having a seizure or fit.

If any of these symptoms are present, particularly loss of consciousness (even for a short period of time), you should call an emergency ambulance.