When To Go To The Hospital

If your child has had a head injury and is having any of the listed conditions or symptoms, go to the hospital or call 911 before contacting us. Your child may be suffering from a more serious, life threatening situation.

Seek medical help immediately if:

  • Your child has had a hard bang to the head, such as falling off something high or from a car accident.
  • Your child losses consciousness.
  • Your child seems unwell and vomits several times.

Treatment of minor head injury

Most children with minor head injury make a full recovery. Most small knocks just cause bruising and pain for a short while.

  • Apply ice or a cool wash to the area injured to help reduce the swelling.
  • If your child has a cut, apply a clean dressing and press on it for about 5 mins. Cuts to the head will often bleed a lot.

Problems to watch for in the next day or two:

  • Headache. Your child may have a headache.
  • Vomiting. Your child may have vomited once but if vomiting continues, go back to your doctor.
  • Drowsiness. Immediately after the head injury your child may be sleepy.
    There is no need to keep your child awake if they want to sleep. If your child does go to sleep, wake them every half to one hour to check their condition, and their reaction to familiar things. You should do this until they are no longer drowsy and have been awake and alert for a few hours.
    Some questions you could ask are:
    Do they know where they are?
    Do they know familiar people’s names?
    Do they know which day it is?
    Or if they are very young: Do their reactions seem appropriate? ie. Reaching out for a hug. Are they interactive and not too irritable?

If you have any difficulty waking your child, take them to the nearest emergency department or call an ambulance.