Yahoo Lifestyle What To Never, Ever Do After Hitting Your Head, According to ER Doctors
Some injuries are obvious in terms of what type of treatment is needed. If you get a cut, for example, you know you need a Band-Aid to stop the bleeding. But hitting your head is less obvious. How can you know if your brain was impacted or not when you can’t see it?
Whether you hit your head due to a fall, bumping into something, during a car crash or while playing a contact sport, it’s important to take it seriously. Not knowing when to seek medical care after hitting your head could cost you your life. It’s important to know what to do—and what not to do—after hitting your head to recover properly.
The #1 Thing You Should Never Do If You Hit Your Head, According to ER Doctors
It isn’t unusual to experience mild pain or get a headache after hitting your head. If you do, Dr. Heather Hinshelwood, DO, a board-certified emergency physician, says it’s important to avoid taking an aspirin-based pain reliever to treat it. “The top action to avoid after hitting your head is taking an aspirin-based pain reliever. Aspirin is a potent blood thinner. If someone has a small bleed in the brain or are at risk for a brain bleed, an aspirin-based pain reliever could inhibit clotting and be the tipping point to a full brain bleed,” Dr. Hinshelwood says.
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Dr. Hinshelwood explains that if the pain reliever inhibits clotting after you hit your head, it could lead to progressive brain bleeding. “This can cause altered mental status, unconsciousness, brain damage resulting in a persistent vegetative state and death,” she says.
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She adds that older adults are at an increased risk for experiencing brain bleeding. “As brain size shrinks with age, more stress is put on bridging veins that are part of the tissue that tethers the brain to the skull. In the right setting, even low-energy head strikes can result in large venous bleeds because of this. Older patients and anyone with a dementia diagnosis should be seen in an emergency department even with low-energy head strikes,” she says.
What To Do—and Not To Do After Hitting Your Head
There are some other important actions it’s important to avoid doing after hitting your head. Dr. Chidinma Nwakanma, MD, an Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, says that it’s important to avoid cleaning a deep head wound with significant bleeding yourself because you could contaminate a wound that potentially has an underlying skull fracture. Leave treating any bleeding to a medical professional.
If hitting your head has caused an object to stick out of the wound, Dr. Nwakanma says it’s important not to remove it yourself; leave it for a medical professional to do. “Removing it could cause uncontrolled bleeding,” she says. Similarly, if you’re wearing a helmet, Dr. Nwakanma warns against removing it because it could unknowingly be stopping any bleeding. “You also run the risk of destabilizing the neck if there is a spinal cord injury if you remove the helmet,” she says.
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Dr. Nwakanma says that if you hit your head, it’s better to call 911 or have someone else drive you to the hospital versus driving yourself there. She also warns against operating heavy machinery or drinking alcohol after hitting your head. “Alcohol can decrease your awareness of new or worsening symptoms,” she says.
If you witness someone else hitting their head, Dr. Nwankanma says to avoid shaking them if they seem dazed. She says not to move them at all unless it is necessary. “The person may have neck fracture or additional injury and moving the person could cause worsening injury or paralysis,” she says. “If there is suspicion of spinal cord injury, stabilize the head and neck by placing your hands on both sides of the person's head, keeping the head in line with the spine, while you wait for the ambulance,” Dr. Nwankanma adds.
That’s a whole lot of what not to do after hitting your head. What do the ER doctors say you should do instead? First, assess how you feel. “It’s okay to recover at home if you have mild pain, you have no mobility restrictions or numbness, your symptoms are improving and you generally feel and function like you normally would,” Dr. Nwankanma says.
If you are experiencing repeated vomiting or nausea, loss of consciousness lasting longer than 30 seconds, worsening headache, slurred speech, seizure, weakness numbness or decreased coordination, Dr. Nwankanma says these are all sure signs to go to the emergency room ASAP.
Anytime you hit your head, it’s always better to be safe and get checked out than sorry you didn’t. It just might save your life.
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Sources
Dr. Heather Hinshelwood, DO, board-certified emergency physician
Dr. Chidinma Nwakanma, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
