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Accident. Noticed Swelling In Eyelids, Forehead And Temple. Having Headache. Treatment?
Question: My elderly mother (age 73) fell in her driveway and onto the street hitting the right side of her head 6 days ago. She did not seek treatment nor did she tell anyone. I attended church with her on Sunday and learned of her accident. She has a lot of swelling to her right eyelid, right forehead and temple area along with bruising and abrasions. Her right eyebrow is drooping or about an inch or more lower than her left. She says she has had headaches since the incident but that they are not bad and easily fixed with ibuprofen. I am very concerned that she has not sought medical treatment and she does not want to. She seems fine mentally. She cannot explain to me what happened other than she was taking her garbage out. She is a diabetic. She said her sugar was high on the day of her fall but not that high. Should I force the issue of seeking medical treatment?
Hello!
Thank you for the query.
Every head trauma can cause a bleeding or brain injury. Unfortunately it is impossible to look inside the skull and tell if there is something going on or not. There are symptoms like headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, weakness, but lack of this symptoms does not rule anything out.
Some bleeding inside the head can give no symptoms for a very long time and appear after 2 weeks.
From your description, the trauma were quite serious. Swelling and bruises indicate that. Some bones fractures in the face area are possible.
You need to know that your mothers blood vessels are probably weak and prone to break. It is because of her age and because of diabetes. So the risk of brain bleeding at her case is higher than regular.
That is why, I suggest you to take your mother to her doctor and have head CT done. It is just a precaution, but it worth to do that and to be sure.
Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.
Thank you for the query.
Every head trauma can cause a bleeding or brain injury. Unfortunately it is impossible to look inside the skull and tell if there is something going on or not. There are symptoms like headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, weakness, but lack of this symptoms does not rule anything out.
Some bleeding inside the head can give no symptoms for a very long time and appear after 2 weeks.
From your description, the trauma were quite serious. Swelling and bruises indicate that. Some bones fractures in the face area are possible.
You need to know that your mothers blood vessels are probably weak and prone to break. It is because of her age and because of diabetes. So the risk of brain bleeding at her case is higher than regular.
That is why, I suggest you to take your mother to her doctor and have head CT done. It is just a precaution, but it worth to do that and to be sure.
Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Answered by
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