Toddlers who are learning to walk, take many falls along the way.  There are some tips on what to do and when to be treated as emergency.

Go to the emergency room or call and  come to office right away

1, With any head injury where the child does not cry immediately and appears to "pass out" for seconds or minutes after the event.

2,  Vomiting 2 or 3 times after the injury, especially if the child is not acting normally with disoriented, confused behaviors.

3, Pupils of the eyes appear unequal.  This is usually a late sign for serious head injury, go to emergency room or call 911. 

4,  Extremely sleepy behavior during usual awake time or very difficult to awaken if during usual sleep time.

5,  Mechanism of the head injury seems severe. For example, falling down several stairs onto tile or falling from a large height.

6,  There appears to be a slight depression of the skull bone at the point of injury which could indicate fracture and potential internal bleeding.

7,  Headache, nausea or dizziness are not going away after 48 to 72 hours of the injury.

8,  If injury results in any open wound, laceration etc. which requires repair by the physician.  Our office can take care minor wound, like superfacial laceration which might be able to repair by liquid medical glue or abrasions that do not need any sutures.

Minor injury which parent can give some treatment at home and follow up with doctor office next day or same day if office is still open

If a child cries immediately after an injury to the head and has no loss of consciousness, this is most likely to be a minor head injury. A child may have nausea, vomiting, headache or dizziness in the first 24 to 48 hours after minor head injury. This is not cause for alarm, unless the symptoms appear to worsen over time and especially if associated with progressive lethargy. By lethargy, we mean the child may appear disoriented, or very sleepy when it is not bedtime, or be hard to awaken if it is their normal sleep time.

Often, a large bump or "goose egg" develops on the head after a head injury. The size of the bump or how quickly it appears does not tell us the seriousness of the injury. What is more important is if there was any loss of consciousness and how the child is acting.

Treatment


Headaches can be managed with appropriate doses of acetaminophen (tylenol). 

Place ice on bumps and bruise on the areas where swell up after the injury.

Clean with peroxide if any bleeding, check how deep of this bleeding wound.  Apply antibiotic ointment and cover the fresh wound with bandaid.

Calm down the child and parent(s), check arms, legs, back and chest, ears, nose and mouth for any additional injuries.