How to Treat a Head Injury (First Aid for Bad Concussions)

A head injury can change a person's life. However, the actions responders take immediately after a head injury can mitigate the severity of the damage. Unless you live in a cloud city, it's possible you could witness or be a victim of a head injury.

To treat a head injury, you first need to understand what they are and how they happen. Then, you'll need to know how to keep someone's airway open, and how to recognize when a head injury is becoming worse. Not all concussions are equal, and some can be much more serious than others.

For some practical tips on how you can recognize and treat a head injury, keep reading. If you or someone you know has just experienced a bad head injury, call 911 and seek emergency care!

What to Do When Someone Has a Concussion (Head Injury)

When it comes to helping people with head injuries, there are three keys: prevention, recognition, and treatment. There isn't a whole lot we can do to reverse the damage of a head injury, but there are things we can do to ensure the damage doesn't become worse.

Please keep in mind that head injuries can be of various types and degrees of severity. There's no way we could give you a full understanding of all head injuries in this short article, but we can at least give you an overview of how to prevent, recognize, and treat a head injury.

Here are several steps to treating a concussion:

• Know How to Prevent a Bad Head Injury
• Recognize When a Head Injury Happens
• Check for Signs the Head Injury is Getting Worse
• Know How to Manage Breathing
• Handle the Person Gentle
• Keep Their Neck Stabilized
• Bonus: Know the Local Trauma Care System

Those are the basic points, now let's dig into the meat and potatoes.

Know How to Prevent a Bad Head Injury

Head injuries are so devastating that the first thing we'll talk about is how to prevent TBI. You've probably heard some things about head injuries and seen people who have been victims of them. Needless to say, the brain can't be repaired like a broken leg or arm. As we've said, you can do things to make sure the head injury doesn't become worse, but after someone has a traumatic brain injury, there is little that can be done to heal or replace damaged brain cells.

With that said, here are some preventative measures to consider.

First, avoid high-risk activities. Yes, things like motorcycles, horse riding, driving fast, extreme sports, UFC fighting, and more carry their own inherent risk. Of course, we take risks all the time in our lives, but if you're trying to avoid a head injury, then avoiding these activities altogether would be wise.

Another thing to avoid: if you're a biker, find a dedicated bike path rather than riding on the main road. Sure, it's legal, but the fact is this: it's not safe. Quick simply, it's very difficult for drivers to see bikers on the road, and while they should be paying attention, we must be realistic. Understand that riding a bike on a main road is quite dangerous.

Second, wear a helmet that fits and keep it strapped on. A helmet can greatly reduce a head injury's severity, so I'd recommend you wear one anytime you're doing anything that could involve risk to your head. "But helmets aren't cool!" you say. Well, neither are comas.

Finally, if you've had a recent minor head injury, lay on any activity where there could be possible impact (even things like playing basketball). After your head has already been injured, a second injury can be much worse!

Alright, now that you understand how to prevent head injuries, let's talk about recognition and treatment.

Recognize When a Head Injury Happens

Know the signs of a head injury and know that even a minor bump to the head can turn very serious. This is especially true for older adults, children, or those taking blood thinner medications. For these patients, even bumping their head on the floor or the side of a door can be very dangerous.

What are the signs of a head injury? The obvious ones are loss of consciousness, dizziness, headache, and pain in the area where the head was struck. However, there are also more subtle signs.

Sometimes, at first, a head injury will seem like no big deal. But then there will be signs that start to develop slowly. Sometimes people will have a headache that's getting worse. Other times, there will be blurred vision, and even a difference in the size of the pupils.

Very serious head injury will go unresponsive, have irregular breathing, and even develop seizures. In the next section, we'll talk about how to decide if a head injury is getting worse or not.

Check for Signs the Head Injury is Getting Worse

Let’s say your kids were playing soccer. Two kids collide and bump their heads. Nobody passes out, but they both rub their heads for a minute before jumping up to continue playing. Are they both just fine?

Here are a few signs a head injury may be serious or getting worse:

• Suddenly the person starts vomiting
• The person has a headache that gets worse and worse
• They have blurry vision that isn't improving
• They become sleepy and unresponsive
• They begin to repeat questions and forget what they just said
• They have differences in body temperature
• Their pupils become unequal
• They feel more numbness or tingling in their limbs

If you see any of these signs or notice that someone begins to show these symptoms, it's time to seek help right away. Even relatively minor collisions (like tripping and striking the ground or two baseball players colliding) can result in serious head injuries.

Know How to Manage Breathing for Head Injury Patients

Now we get into some of the steps to manage a severe head injury. Of course, the first step is to call 911 and ensure that the patient is on the way to the hospital. As far as first aid care goes, there are a few keys to think about.

Ensuring that someone with a bad head injury can breathe is critical. When someone suffers from a head injury, fluid can begin to fill, increasing pressure in the skull and reducing oxygen delivery to the nerves. In these instances, it's crucial to make sure a person's airway is open and that they are taking good breaths.

If they are not taking good rescue breaths, then you will need to initiate rescue breathing until help arrives and the patient is in the hands of paramedics or the hospital physicians.

Handle a Person with a Head Injury Gently

Another thing to think about is handling the person gently. If you can, have them lie still and ensure they aren't too hot or too cold. You don't want them using any excess energy - their body needs to focus on perfusing the brain.

Sometimes, when treating a severe head injury, it's a good idea to have the person's head lifted just slightly, rather than laying them completely flat. This can help with their breathing and may reduce swelling in the brain (always follow local protocols).

Finally, manage any other injuries or bleeding to the head. You know what's in the head? The eyes. Be sure to check out this article on how to treat eye injuries.

Keep Their Neck Stable

Those who have bad head injuries may also have a neck injury or damage to their spinal cord. Have these people keep their head still, and ensure they keep their neck stable. When paramedics arrive, they will place a collar around the person's neck to help remind them to keep their head still.

Let's go over one final point.

Bonus: Know the Local Trauma Care System

Long-term care for a bad head injury requires a specialist, and these aren't available in all hospitals. For most serious head injuries, these patients will need to go to a trauma center.

If you can, know the different types of hospitals in your area and then do your best to have the patient transported to the most capable hospital in the area. Alright, now let's go over a few final words.

Conclusion: How to Help Someone Who Has Hit Their Head

While there is not a lot we can do to reverse the damage from a primary head injury (the direct impact to the head), there are things we can do to reduce the danger of secondary injuries (things like swelling to the brain and low oxygen).

Knowing how to recognize the symptoms of a head injury and provide treatment could change someone's life. I encourage you to review this article and others on the topic. Also, take some time and seek out real-world training in your area.

Be sure to check out this article on how to prepare for and respond to car accidents.

Alert: Keep in mind that none of this should be taken as medical advice. If you're experiencing a true emergency, call 911 and seek professional medical care from a licensed physician. This article is for information purposes only, and please realize that the medical field is constantly being updated when new research becomes available.