How long should swelling from a moderate head injury received during a car accid!
Question:
How long should swelling from a moderate head injury received during a car accident last?
There were no fractures (according to x-rays and a CT). It's been over a week and the swelling has only minimally reduced. How long is a reasonable time to wait before I should get worried? Is it possible to have 'permanent' swelling due to the soft tissue injury? Thanks!
Answers:
this is hard to determine since everyone's bodies (including your brain) heals differently and at different speeds.
i'm assuming you're not admitted in a hospital and are home back to doing the things you are used to doing. be thankful for this (i work in trauma icu and see a ton of head injuries weekly). alot of people with head injuries end up in the icu hooked up to a ventilator.
the swelling should decrease over time and it might take a good couple of weeks. did they rule out any possible head bleeds? sometimes bleeding can occur days after a head injury and cause swelling.
overall-i think you'll be just fine-it just might take a few weeks for everything to go back to normal.
if you're overly concerned-talk to your dr about it.