Patient/caregiver was educated that the signs and symptoms of head injury can vary depending on the severity of the injury suffered.
Also, some symptoms can appear during immediate 24 – 48 hours after injury and some symptoms can also appear in a few weeks after injury. The symptoms can progressively improve or worsen based on the impact of injury.
Moderate to severe head injury can result in the following signs & symptoms:
- Speech difficulty: Moderate to severe head injury can lead to damage to the area of brain controlling speech. Individuals with this kind of injury can present with speech difficulty and problems with expression.
- Behavior changes: Brain damage from moderate to severe head injury can result in increased risk for behavior changes during immediate time period post-injury.
- Poor motor abilities: Injury to the brain from head injury can affect portions of brain controlling gait and balance. This can result in weakness, gait instability, and increased risk for falls & accidents.
- Headache: Volume inside the skull is limited. Swelling from the injury and poorly controlled bleeding can result in increased pressure inside the bony skull, causing headache. This can also result in associated constitutional symptoms such as, nausea and vomiting.
