On Apr 12, 9:19*am, SMS wrote:
On 12/04/10 8:42 AM, Simon Lewis wrote:

The actress Natasha Richardson's untimely death being a great reminder
of how seemingly innocuous head injuries can lead to pain, paralysis and
even death.

Yes, that's what I was thinking about when I made the statement, "As
we've seen, it's a good idea to seek medical treatment even if you feel
okay after a head-impact crash."

Suggesting that someone telling someone to have a head injury checked is
"fear mongering" borders on the criminally insane.

True.

That's ridiculous. We all bump our heads. I've rung my bell skiing a
number of times, and not on bunny slopes. People fall on the bunny
slopes all the time -- it is a perpetual state of carnage. Natasha
Richardson developed severe headaches an hour after the fall, along
with other symptoms. She delayed follow-up for an hour or more, and
she was remote from a major medical facility. She was also trending
toward a higher risk category, the elderly. She was not a no-symptom
case, or a fall and die case. I also question whether, with her
initial symptoms (minor headache) she would have gotten anything more
than an aspirin and an order to return if it got worse.

Really, you need to think through a no-symptom/minor headache ER visit
-- the doctor asks you if you have pain. He checks your pupils and
your cranial nerve response. He looks for blood in your ear canals
(and at the quality of your eardrums, which is secondary). He judges
your speech and orientation and asks if you were knocked out. If your
clinical picture is benign, you go home -- with a big bill and an
order to take some Tylenol and call back if symptoms worsen. It's not
like "House" where a magical doctor determines that there are sinister
implications to a totally benign exam. You're not going to get a CT
scan unless you are very old.

If I have no symptoms (or a minor headache), I don't go to an ER. I
take a Tylenol and then go to the ER if I start having persistent or
significant symptoms (serious headache, nausea). That has not
happened, and my only head exams (including CT) have only occurred
after I was knocked out and injured in other ways (facial laceration,
separated shoulder). When my son whacks his head skiing, I do the
quick neuro exam, give him Tylenol and watch him. So far so good. --
Jay Beattie.