Learn about TBI - For Individuals and Families
When to Contact Your Doctor
Call 911 immediately if you or a member of your family experiences any of the following symptoms after a head injury:
Danger Signs in Adults
- Vomiting or dizziness
- Difficulty answering simple questions such as, "What day is it?"
- Double vision or pupils (the black part in the middle of the eye) that are different sizes
- Headaches that get worse
- Blood or clear fluid from the nose or ears
- Difficulty with walking or talking
- Seizures (convulsions, eyes fluttering, body going stiff, staring into space or a sudden onset of a fixed stare)
- Slurred speech
Danger Signs in Children
- Any of the danger signs listed for adults
- Won't stop crying
- Can't be consoled
- Won't nurse or eat
Symptoms that May Need Further Medical Evaluation After a Brain Injury
Persons of All Ages
"I just don't feel like myself."
- Low-grade headaches that won't go away
- Having more trouble than usual:
- Remembering things
- Paying attention or concentrating
- Organizing daily tasks
- Making decisions and solving problems
- Slowness in thinking, acting, speaking or reading
- Getting lost or easily confused
- Neck pain
- Feeling tired all the time, lack of energy
- Change in sleeping pattern:
- Sleeping for much longer periods of time than before
- Trouble sleeping or insomnia
- Loss of balance, feeling light-headed or dizzy
- Increased sensitivity to:
- Sounds
- Lights
- Distractions
- Blurred vision or eyes that tire easily
- Loss of sense of taste or smell
- Ringing in the ears
- Change in sexual drive
- Mood changes:
- Feeling sad, anxious or listless
- Becoming easily irritated or angry for little or no reason
- Lack of motivation
Young Children
Although children can have the same symptoms of brain injury as adults, it is harder for young children to let others know how they are feeling. Call your child's doctor if your child seems to be getting worse or if you notice any of the following:
- Listlessness, tiring easily
- Irritability, crankiness
- Change in eating or sleeping patterns
- Change in the way your child plays
- Change in the way your child performs or acts at school
- Lack of interest in favorite toys
- Loss of new skills, such as toilet training
- Loss of balance, unsteady walking
Older Adults
- Older adults with a brain injury may have a higher risk of serious complications such as a blood clot on the brain. Headaches that get worse or an increase in confusion are signs of this complication. If these signs occur, see a doctor right away.