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When to Take Baby to Er for Head Bump

Head Injuries and Children: When to Take Your Child to the Doctor

The different signs and symptoms of a mild injury, serious injury and concussion.

A head injury is a common childhood experience that tin can happen at any age – whether it's the newly mobile baby rolling off the bed, the simple school kid falling off the jungle gym, or the teenage athlete colliding with an opposing team member.

If your kid was healthy before the head injury, doesn't lose consciousness, doesn't accept cuts on the head or face up, and acts normally later, it is probably but a bump on the head. In this situation, the most important thing you lot can do is advisedly observe your kid, and should you have concerns, don't hesitate to follow your instincts and telephone call your doctor.

Youth football player

Mild Injuries

It's normal for kids to cry after they've hit their heads -- it hurts and it's scary. Only crying shouldn't final longer than x minutes.

If your child is alert and responds to you lot, the head injury is likely mild. To soothe them, you lot can apply a cold compress for 20 minutes to aid the swelling get downwardly. You can requite children acetaminophen for pain, but check with your child's doctor earlier giving any other medication. You don't want to mask pain or symptoms that advise a serious head injury. Y'all can allow your child go to sleep if it's naptime or bedtime, merely cheque on them every two to three hours to make sure everything is OK.

Baby Bumps on the Head

It's exciting watching your child learn to walk but like any skill information technology requires exercise. At that place will be falls and well-nigh misses, and occasionally there may also exist some bumps on the caput. Fortunately, most baby head bumps are mild.

If your kid does fall and bump their head, but is alarm and responds to you, watch them advisedly for the side by side 36 to 48 hours to see if any symptoms develop that could betoken a caput injury.

Changes to watch for include inconsolable crying or fussiness, vomiting more than once, balancing difficulties when sitting or walking, and existence unresponsive.

If your child is exhibiting any of these symptoms, or has any significant swelling over the site of the injury, y'all should accept them to the doctor right abroad.

Serious Injuries

Head injuries can cause changes in memory, judgment, balance, reaction time, voice communication and sleep. They can besides cause headaches and more than sensitivity to calorie-free and sound.

If your kid loses consciousness or exhibits whatsoever symptoms usually associated with a concussion following a collision, IMMEDIATELY remove the child from play and telephone call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends taking your child to the medico correct away if they take any of the following:

  • Unusual paleness that lasts for more than an hr.
  • Tingling on one side of the body.
  • Numbness or weakness of artillery or legs.
  • Losing residuum, stumbling or trouble walking.
  • Seizures.
  • Repeated dizziness or dizziness that doesn't go away.
  • Nauseous or vomits more than two or three times.
  • Persistent ringing in the ears or loss of hearing.
  • Slurred spoken communication.
  • Blurry vision, double vision or pupils of unequal size.
  • Difficulty recognizing familiar faces.
  • A abiding headache, specially if it gets worse.
  • Extreme sleepiness or difficulty waking up.
  • Very irritable, confused or other abnormal behavior.

These symptoms are signs of a more than serious head injury, and they may happen hours later and, rarely, even days later. That's why watching your child closely for the get-go 24 to 48 hours later on a head injury is of import.

Certain accidents are also more than probable to crusade a serious head injury including a car accident, falling down a flights of stairs, falling off a bicycle without a helmet, falling from three or more feet off the ground, and higher level competitive contact sports.

CT Scans

According to AAP, CT scans are useful for injuries such as bleeding in the brain or skull fractures, but not helpful for the diagnosis of a concussion. For the majority of childhood head injuries, CT scans of children are not necessary.&

CT scans use radiation, and because children's brains are still developing and their brain tissue is more sensitive, unnecessary exposure to X-rays may increase their lifetime risk of cancer, according to AAP.

A md should only order a CT scan if they feel it's necessary to dominion out a brain bleed or serious skull fracture.

The md should examine your child and ask well-nigh specific symptoms, which is a much better indicator of how serious the caput injury is and what treatment is all-time.

Concussions

Sometimes a caput injury can lead to a concussion – a mild traumatic brain injury caused by an impact. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, fatigue and forgetfulness, which can concluding anywhere from fifteen minutes to a few weeks afterwards the impact.

Recovery time can vary greatly from one person to the next. So information technology's possible – although rare – to still experience symptoms of a head injury long later on the accident occurred. Children's and teenagers' developing brains, in item, can take at least seven to 10 days to return to normal after a head injury.

If your child gets a concussion, information technology's extremely important for them not to go dorsum to being overly agile too soon. The best early treatment for concussion is residue from both physical and mental action for a few days and and then a gradual return to activities.

Getting Back in the Game

All concussions are serious, and all athletes with suspected concussions should not render to play until they see a physician.

Your child should never get directly dorsum into a game after they has experienced a head injury and they also shouldn't return to sports until they are back to their baseline normal wellness before the injury.

Normally, a child should take at least one week with no symptoms before going back to sports, and the return to sports should be gradual, according to AAP. This process is best guided by your child's physician.

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Source: https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/childrens-health/head-injuries-and-children-when-to-take-your-child-to-the-doctor