Do I have SEVERE HEAD INJURY and need surgery?

[Anonymous]

PLEASE READ:

It's April now. In November I had hit my head on a stone floor and fractured my arm too. The doctors didn't seem concerned about my head as the arm needed surgery.

I felt something on my scalp that could only be described as a cracked membrane. I couldn't open my jaw. So I had the doctors look at it and they said that it was a "SCALP CONTUSION" which they said was nothing and always goes away on it's own in good time...

It has healed about 80%. It was so painful but now it only makes me uncomfortable if I press the area. I have some very mild pain/discomfort that sometimes comes ON IT'S OWN after I smoke. I also found that that area is like a very tiny portion of my has come up. In the shape of a hill. LOL. It's probably only 1mm high though.

Everything is fine now, and I have felt mentally the SAME THROUGHOUT. I don't have any symptoms usually accompanied by a head injury, except that tiny bump I found and pain in that area after smoking. BUT ALL THE OTHER PAINS HAVE GONE.

Will this go away too? Has skull cracked? Do I REALLY need to go to a doctor? Cuz I don't want to and everything is fine like I said.

[kaylaS91]

You skull has probably not cracked, though I'm not sure with how much force you hit it against the floor. The bump and pain when you press it is pretty typical of when you bruise your bone or the membranes around it.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if you already ran it by the doctors. You can go for a CT scan just to ease your mind but unless you start experiencing more mental/cognitive issues like memory problems, changes in vision, etc., you sound okay.

[Asker]

Thanks dear! I was really looking forward to hearing something like this... though I may be too optimistic. However everything is fine and I don't have any problems except the last remaining pain on the exterior and a small bump.

Of course the cracks of the scale which is "scalp contusion" has only healed 80% and even that is taking time to COMPLETELY fade.

[Asker]

Are you Dr. Kayla?

[kaylaS91]

no problem! yeah I think scalp contusion is just really deep bruising, no cracks.
I'm assuming I got some deep bruising on my shin also, banged it up pretty bad which made it get a pretty sizable bump around 5 years ago. Of course it mostly went down but it's still a teeny bit raised around that area so unless you get some symptoms affecting your well-being aside from that physically bump, not much reason for concern. :)

[Asker]

I'm almost certain that the bump is my skull, but it could just be hard scalp right?

[kaylaS91]

what do you mean hard scalp?
You probably bruised not your actual hard bone in the skull, but a fibrous tissue part of it.

[Asker]

Ohh... Is the scalp membrane that fibrous tissue? Because that bump feels more like bone. It's somewhere between those softer, cracked membrane portions.

[Asker]

I was thinking that one part of the bone went in and the other came up but it was so minor that nobody noticed it.

[kaylaS91]

whaaaat? Yeah. There is not a lot of this fibrous tissue, but the bump is definitely not bone. There's no way the actual solid part of your skull could have a bump..
and what cracked membrane portions? I really doubt a doctor would let a cracked skull, let alone one where the crack is big enough to actually dip in go unnoticed.

[Asker]

Thanks for your response! Actually the doc took an Xray and the skull was fine. But the view was frontal and the injury was near my temple so maybe it didn't capture the whole thing?

ahhh I'm just being paranoid I guess. I'll wait for another 2 months and see what happens! Thanks again.

by the way what are your qualifications?

[kaylaS91]

If it's frontal, wouldn't that include your temple? The machines are pretty damn good these days, I'm sure it would've caught a crack around the temple, especially if it was so big that you can actually feel a change in smoothness of the skull around there.

My qualifications... some undergrad biology courses. As well as lots of psychology ones towards my degree.
Something nobody knows but I also was involved in a pretty serious car accident a few years back which coincidentally did leave me with a severe concussion so I'm all too familiar with things that should lead to concern as well as the ins and outs of how doctors go about diagnosing injuries in that region.

[Asker]

aha! Hope you're fine now!!

[kaylaS91]

yeah of course I'm fine now. It happened like... going on 8 years ago. The first 2 years after were super rough but with a fair amount of rehab (the physical kind, not substance abuse :P) + doctor appointments I'm good. :)

[Asker]

Good to hear! 2 years is a long time though, wow

[NoDoubt]

If you are worried at ALL you should see a doctor. I can't tell you not to see a doctor and that you're fine because 1) I'm not a doctor 2) If it is a bad head injury and you need medical attention for it and I tell you that you're okay, then it's my fault if you die. So if you're worried I'd see a doctor just in case. It's always better to be safe than be sorry.

[Nobodycares]

The bump on your head is normal.

I have no idea about anything else. I don't know what a scalp contusion is, except what must be a physical description of the thing that happened. Did you get a concussion?

I have no idea how long the pain would last normally. You should think about what to ask your doctor, and if he keeps insisting its normal, try rephrasing the question. Get a long answer out of him, if you can.

[Nobodycares]

Describe all the symptoms to your doctor as well. Doctors aren't able to figure everything out immediately by just looking at you.

[Prof_Don]

Head injuries are serious business! If cost is a factor and u aren't on state insurance, u can find clinics where u can be seen for about $30 for a visit without insurance.

[Asker]

Yeah but I don't have any head injury symptoms except maybe that little bump and an uncommon pain at a spot in the contusion area, but then again that area was exponentially more painful a few months ago. So it could just be a symptom of scalp contusion.

[Asker]

Also November was a 5 months ago, wouldn't a brain or crack/leakage injury have killed me or gotten severe by now?

[Longblackveil]

Your really going to trust random people on gag more than a doctor lol. Not saying your doctor couldn't be wrong but , geez