Overview

Any type of injury to your brain, skull, or scalp is considered a head injury. This can happen from a minor bump or bruise to a severe brain injury. Concussions, skull fractures, and wounds to the scalp are typical head wounds. Depending on the cause and the severity of your head injury, there are many outcomes and treatments.

There are two types of head wounds: closed and open. Any head injury that doesn’t break your skull is considered a closed head injury. An open (penetrating) head injury occurs when something penetrates your skull, scalp, and brain.

Just by looking, it can be challenging to determine how serious a head injury is. While some catastrophic head injuries don’t bleed at all, some minor head injuries bleed profusely.

Types

Causes

According to their aetiology, head injuries can generally be categorised into two groups. Both head injuries from shaking and head injuries from impacts to the head are possible.

Although they most frequently occur in infants and young children, head injuries from shaking can happen to anyone at anytime.

A hit to the head frequently results in head injuries that:

Your skull will typically shield your brain from significant injury. However, spinal injuries can also result from trauma severe enough to injure the head.

Symptoms

The following are typical signs of a minor head injury:

Many of the signs of a minor head injury are present in the symptoms of a major head injury. They may also consist of:

Diagnosis

This 15-point test examines a person’s capacity to follow instructions, move their eyes and limbs, and helps a doctor or other emergency medical staff determine the early severity of brain damage. Important cues are also provided by the coherence of speech.

The Glasgow Coma Scale awards scores for abilities between three and fifteen. Lower ratings indicate less serious wounds.

Treatment

Risk factors