Banged my head- do I need to see a GP for concussion?

[Emilym80]

Hi all,

I want to say firstly that I've been using this site way too much recently and posting on it a fair bit, but I'm still having trouble sorting out my CBT appointments and am feeling a bit vulnerable ATM.

Anyway, I was actually doing quite well today until I knocked my head. I immediately (unfortunately) thought of all the terrible things that can happen from head trauma. However, mine was caused by leaning back and hitting my head on the edge of a picture frame on the wall behind the couch- it couldn't have been more than a 10cm "fall" (if you will). After having a feel around I found a dent in my skull which is tender and sore, so there's no doubt that I hit my head there. Unfortunately I can't really remember if it was there beforehand and I hit the dent or the dent came about from me hitting my head. However I don't feel that I hit it *that* hard, it was a decent whack though not ridiculous but I guess since I can't know for sure it could be a fracture or something.

My issue is I'm on holiday with my parents- my mum is quite frustrated with my HA though she tries to understand. I don't go to the gp for every symptom I have but I do go way too often and obviously worry way too much and had to go the ER a couple of weeks ago at the advice of a nurse due to suspected stroke (it was actually bad sleep paralysis). As a result, my mum is quite exasperated by me at times, which I understand. While I didn't pass out/vomit/have vision disturbances and I've only had a very mild headache, I think it's possible that I could have concussion as I was nauseated for a little bit about 2 hrs after I hit my head and felt a bit confused/brain foggy around the same time- like I could still understand everything but it was harder. I do also get these symptoms when I get panicky which I definitely was but I'd rather not pin them on that given what happened. For what it's worth, I hit my head about 5 hrs ago now and nothing's changed (I've not slept either- it was around 12:30 am). I would've told my parents when it happened but they were asleep. I'm hoping it's nothing major as I really don't feel that a blow that minor could break my skull but I don't want to just leave it either. I'm definitely not looking for a diagnosis, just advice. Does it seem warranted for me to get this checked out?

I don't want to annoy my parents by ruining today for them with my anxiety but I think knocks to the head probably warrant a gp visit if they're bad... idk, sorry for the rambling post, I'm super tired! Advice/thoughts would be really appreciated here- thanks :)

[feelthelove]

How do you feel now ?

[Emilym80]

Still feel ok- very tired, though and shaky. I made that post maybe 5-10 mins ago but it's almost been 6 hrs since this happened. I wouldn't be worried at all if it wasn't for the dent in my head. I caved and ended up googling and apparently most trauma bad enough to fracture the skull would also knock you out... I still feel I could be mildly concussed though and I don't want to take any chances in case there was a fracture.

[feelthelove]

well many years ago i was in the kitchen and bent down to pick something up and as i stood up i hit my head on the corner of the door of the kitchen unit. I had a banging headache and massive lump on the top left of my head and i felt really ill for hours , maybe you should go to the hospital and they will know straight away if you have concussion by your pupils, the more you worry the worse the anxiety will get , and the only way to ease the anxiety is to remove the problem .

[herbie73]

Hi there, I just wanted to say about six years ago I slipped on ice and banged my head real bad, so bad I think I was knocked out for a few seconds, I also could see stars, my vision was shaky for about half an hour, but I decided I was fine drove home from work and carried on like normal, went to bed woke up next day with massive bruise on knee and head, but six years later I am still here, I think you have to bang you head really bad for it to cause problems, your skull is very hard, relax and try not to worry, you will be fine xx

[Emilym80]

Ok, I'll have a chat to my mum and hopefully she'll be understanding. My worry is that she'll just dismiss it as anxiety when it could actually be a physical issue- on the few occasions something like this has happened, there's never been anything wrong. Thanks for your advice. I know I can't go to the doctors every time I feel a bit unwell but I think under these circumstances it's warranted.

---------- Post added at 20:46 ---------- Previous post was at 20:42 ----------


Hi there, I just wanted to say about six years ago I slipped on ice and banged my head real bad, so bad I think I was knocked out for a few seconds, I also could see stars, my vision was shaky for about half an hour, but I decided I was fine drove home from work and carried on like normal, went to bed woke up next day with massive bruise on knee and head, but six years later I am still here, I think you have to bang you head really bad for it to cause problems, your skull is very hard, relax and try not to worry, you will be fine xx

Thank you :) I'm just worried about the dent on my head but I'm starting to think that surely I would've had to hit it much harder to fracture it than I did. Also if the dent wasn't there before I surely would've felt my skull crack! Anyway, I'll probably still try and see the dr but will try not too fret too much if I can't for whatever reason.

[Munchlet]

Hi

I work in a school and we had some paramedics in the other day to visit the children. As we were having a first aid meeting at the same time we actually asked them some questions regarding head injuries.

They told us that if you vomit after a head injury (and they said it's normally more than once) you should visit A&E and get checked out. They also said if the injury is enough to knock you out then again that warrants a visit. What they then said is generally at A&E they won't do anything initially other than operate a watch and wait system but vomiting and losing conciousness is a key sign as to whether you are concussed or suffering from some kind of internal trauma.

If neither of those occurred then you can normally relax and just expect a sore head for a while! Take care

[Emilym80]

Thank you! Again, I'm worried about the dent and it's really frustrating because I can't remember if it was there before or not! I got my mum to have a look as she has done quite a lot of first aid training and she said that if I'd fractured it it would be way more sore etc. Hopefully she's right, but I wish there was an egg/lump instead, lol. I also have to fly home in a few days so I'm pretty worried about what the implications of that would be if I had an undiagnosed skull fracture... trying to stay positive :)

[sarahsparkleshine]

Im sure that the dent is part of your head. You would have been knocked out if you actually hit your head hard enough to put an actual dent in it. Don't ruin your vacation. Break the cycle, and trust that you're OK. That is if you haven't any symptoms.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The skull is built to take a lot of bangs, Emily. I've done this like this loads of times.

Think of it this way, if the skull was that fragile we wouldn't have contact sports for a start.

Fracturing thick skull bone takes a lot of force, like being hit with a hammer.

It would also be quite painful.

Also, I want to point out that whilst you may have been on here more recently as you say, you have spent a lot of that time helping others.

[Emilym80]

Thank you so much for replying, everyone :) I really appreciate the support. I feel a bit guilty now as I told my mum what happened and she got quite upset with me for suggesting that I need to see a doctor.

Anyway, it doesn't hurt too badly now and isn't very tender- I mustn't have hit it very hard, maybe the shock of hitting it made it feel worse to me than it was- so hopefully it'll settle down pretty quickly. Thanks again!

---------- Post added at 02:37 ---------- Previous post was at 01:19 ----------

Also, just wondering- when you guys have hit your head, does the sore area cause any referred pain? When I touch the dent I feel pain radiating to my forehead and temples. I'm trying really hard not to panic and I'm sure it's normal, just double checking to see if others get it too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, it can do. The fact it is radiating from there is a good sign its connected to that area anyway which happens when you press on any injury usually.