Traumatic head injury symptoms can range from visible physical effects of psychological and behavioral alterations. It is, therefore, important to accurately get diagnosed even if you experience mild, moderate or severe effects. While some head injury symptoms may appear right after the accident, others may develop and appear over a span of a few days. Common head injury symptoms have been listed below.
Cognitive symptoms
These are usually mental or psychological symptoms that include memory or concentration issues, mood swings, feelings of depression, and anxiety. Other cognitive head injury symptoms include the inability to speak and process the language, profound mental confusion, difficulty comprehending and thinking, difficulty recognizing routine things, partial amnesia, agitation, slurred speech, coma, and the like.
Head injury symptoms that cause behavioral changes
Often certain types of head injuries cause behavioral inconsistencies like abnormal crying or laughter, extreme agitation or aggression, heightened irritability or impulsivity, repetition of words or actions, lack of restraint, and the like.
Sensory symptoms
Head injury symptoms also include sensory issues like blurred vision, ringing sensation in the ears, foul taste in the mouth, alterations in the smell, and the like. Many people also complain of sensitivity to light or sound as a common head injury symptom.
Physical symptoms
Head injury symptoms are often physical in nature and vary from mild to severe. Some common physical symptoms include a persistent headache, post-traumatic seizures, nerve damage, bleeding, stiff muscles, bruising, bone fracture, and the like. Other common head injury symptoms are listed below.
- Loss of consciousness
- Constant nausea or persistent vomiting
- Fluid draining from ears or nose
- Finger or toes numbness
- Inability to wake up from sleep
- Pupil dilation
- A state of being dazed or disoriented
- Extreme fatigue or drowsiness
- Loss of coordination or balance
- Sleeplessness or insomnia
- Extended sleep
Head injury symptoms in children
Since children and infants are susceptible to falls, they are at a higher risk of having a head injury. It is, therefore, imperative to pay absolute attention to any head injury in children and get it thoroughly diagnosed. While infants and smaller children may be unable to communicate any cognitive, sensory, or physical symptoms, you can watch out for some common symptoms. Children showing any noticeable changes in eating or nursing habits must be paid heed to. It is important to consult a doctor in case the child is persistently crying or is unable to be consoled after a fall. Unusual behavior, irritability, change in the attention span, alterations in sleeping patterns, loss of interest in favorite toys or activities are other common head injury symptoms in children that should be attended.
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3 common treatment options for head and neck cancer
Read moreHead neck cancer can be treated effectively and completely cured if they are diagnosed early. The primary goal in most of the head neck cancer treatment options is to eradicate cancer, but it is also critical to be able to preserve the functioning of the associated nerves, tissues, and organs. While this is not impossible to do, it is probably the most challenging part of the treatment.
The treatment of head neck cancer will greatly depend on several factors:
- One of the main things that will determine the course of the treatment is the stage of the head neck cancer. The other thing that is of relevance is the type of cancer.
- Secondly, what is important to consider at this point is the kind of side effects that can occur with various treatments.
- Finally, the patient’s overall health and the choices regarding the treatment plan play a key role. Head neck cancer has many treatment options.
The aim of any surgery that is conducted for head neck cancer is to remove all the cancerous tissues and a portion of the healthy tissue around the damaged tissues as well.
- Laser Surgery: This kind of surgery is done when the patient has cancer in the larynx, and such a surgery is conducted to eliminate the tumor at an early stage.
- Excision: Typically, excision involves the removal of the tumor along with healthy tissue surrounding the area. If the cancerous tissue is small, then an excision can be carried out followed by radiation or chemotherapy.
- Dissection of the neck: If the oncologist feels that cancer has spread and it is essential to cover a larger area around the neck, then a dissection is conducted where the lymph nodes around the neck area are removed.
All or some of the above may be employed to treat cancer, but this is strongly dependent on the extent to which cancer has spread. Associate surgeries to help recover some or all the functions of the affected organ may have to be undertaken as well.
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Causes of thrombosis
Read moreThrombosis can sometimes occur for no apparent reason at all. However, the risk of developing thrombosis is increased in certain circumstances or lifestyle.
Inactivity of the body tends the blood to collect in the lower parts of the body, usually in lower legs. There is nothing to worry about if this happens normally as when you start to move, the blood flow increases and circulates evenly in the body. However, if you are unable to move after a longer period of time, such as before and after an operation or during an illness or an injury or during a very long journey, the blood is forced to slow down considerably. This is when the chances of formation of blood clots increases.
While in hospital, during the operational procedure, the risk of getting blood clot increases. The chances of developing thrombosis increases if an operation takes longer than 90 minutes and if it involves leg, hip and abdomen. If the operation is to treat inflammatory or abdominal condition such as appendicitis the chances of thrombosis may increase. When admitted to hospital, you will be assessed for your risk of developing a blood clot and would be given necessary preventive treatments for the same.
The wall of the blood vessel can become narrowed or blocked and can cause blood clot to form if the blood vessel is damaged. Blood vessels can get damaged during operational procedures and form internal blood clots which are nothing but thrombosis.
Pregnancy is also one of the causes of a certain type of thrombosis called Venous thromboembolism or VTE. Although chances of getting affected by the same is about one in 100,000 women of childbearing age. Other factors that can cause thrombosis during pregnancy include being over 35 years old and pregnant, expecting two or more babies, having a cesarean delivery, smoking and dehydration.
In case of women, combined contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy both contain female hormone estrogen. This increases the chances of internal clotting. Although there are no risks involved in taking progesterone-only contraceptive pills.