Head injury — advice for adults
What to look out for, and how to look after yourself, after a head injury.
We have examined you and it is safe for you to go home. Serious problems after a head injury are uncommon, but they can occasionally develop over the first few days. This leaflet tells you what to watch for and how to recover well. Please keep it somewhere easy to find, and make sure someone at home reads it too.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
These can mean bleeding or swelling inside the head and need an ambulance.
- You are knocked out again, or become very hard to wake or keep awake
- A fit or seizure (convulsion)
- New weakness, numbness or clumsiness in an arm or leg
- Trouble speaking, or trouble understanding what people say
- New confusion — not knowing where you are, the time, or who you are with
- A severe headache that is quickly getting worse, especially with drowsiness
Return to the ED or the urgent service named above — you do not need an ambulance for these.
- Being sick (vomiting) more than once after you got home
- Feeling sleepy for more than an hour at a time when you would normally be wide awake
- Problems with your eyesight, such as double or blurred vision
- Loss of balance, or trouble walking steadily
- A headache that will not settle with the pain relief you were advised to take
- Clear fluid leaking from your nose or ear, or new bleeding from an ear
- There is no responsible adult who can stay with you for the next 24 hours
For the first 24–48 hours
- Do not be alone for the first 24 hours — stay with a responsible adult who can keep an eye on you.
- It is safe to sleep, but on the first night the person with you should check on you a few times and make sure they can wake you.
- Stay near a phone for the first day or two so you can get help quickly if you need it.
- Do not drive, cycle or operate machinery until you feel completely back to normal. Ask your doctor if you are unsure.
- You may take paracetamol for a headache. Avoid aspirin and anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen for the first few days, unless a doctor has told you to take them. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs.
- Do not take sleeping tablets, sedatives or tranquillisers unless a doctor has prescribed them for you.
Symptoms that are usually nothing to worry about
These are common in the first few days and normally settle within about 2 weeks:
See your GP if you are worried about any of these in the first few days, or if they have not gone after 2 weeks.
Recovering well
- Rest for 2–3 days, then build back up gradually, guided by how you feel. If symptoms get worse, drop back to a level that felt manageable.
- Work, school or college: return gradually rather than all at once.
- Exercise: light, non-contact activity can restart once you feel better, building up over a few weeks.
- Contact sport (football, rugby, boxing, martial arts): avoid for at least 3 weeks, and until a healthcare professional confirms you have fully recovered. If you were told you have a skull fracture, avoid contact sport for 4–6 weeks.
- Driving: do not drive until you feel completely back to normal.
Longer-term recovery
Most people recover fully and quickly. A small number take longer, or notice problems after a few weeks — such as ongoing tiredness, dizziness, balance, memory or vision difficulties. This is sometimes called post-concussion syndrome. Rarely, hormone problems can develop months or years later. See your GP if symptoms last beyond 2 weeks or you are concerned. For more support, visit Headway (headway.org.uk) or search "Headway concussion".