My Mother In Law Just Fell In A Hotel Bathroom

Posted on Tue, 11 Jun 2019

Question: My mother in law just fell in a hotel bathroom and hit her head on the bathtub. Shes 83 and in pretty good health. She has a very large "goose egg" on her forehead. She seems coherent and can talk and her eyes are not dilated. She says her bottom hurts as per her landing hard on the floor. My question is should we take her to an ER or is there anything they would do for her besides ice and tylenol?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I think we can wait....

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

I would like to know if she complaints of headache / nausea or vomiting?
Did she loose consciousness after a fall?
How long ago did she sustain this injury?

If she has a bad headache with or without nausea / vomiting and if she had lost consciousness after the fall, she needs to be taken to the ER immediately. Else you may wait and observe.

At present you should continue to ice the area .

Sometimes the swelling may spread / become bigger that what it is currently. You may also notice skin color change over the swelling during the course of recovery. These again are not concerning.

Hope it helped. I will be happy to help you further if necessary.

Regards

Note: For further follow-up it is advisable to consult an emergency medicine specialist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar