Also called: Cranial injuries · Skull fractures · Skull injuries
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Head Injuries
Chances are you've bumped your head before. Often, the injury is minor because your skull is hard and it protects your brain. But other head injuries can be more severe, such as a skull fracture, concussion, or traumatic brain injury.
Head injuries can be open or closed. A closed injury does not break through the skull. With an open, or penetrating, injury, an object pierces the skull and enters the brain. Closed injuries are not always less severe than open injuries.
Some common causes of head injuries are falls, motor vehicle accidents, violence, and sports injuries.
It is important to know the warning signs of a moderate or severe head injury. Get help immediately if the injured person has:
- A headache that gets worse or does not go away
- Repeated vomiting or nausea
- Convulsions or seizures
- An inability to wake up
- Dilated (enlarged) pupil in one or both eyes
- Slurred speech
- Weakness or numbness in the arms or legs
- Loss of coordination
- Increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation
Doctors use a neurologic exam and imaging tests to make a diagnosis. Treatment depends on the type of injury and how severe it is.
It sits within Injuries and Wounds.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Head Injuries
3,815 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Brain Blood Flow and Cerebral Autoregulation Monitoring in Critically Ill ChildrenUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
- Exercise and Physical Activity in Adults With Acquired Brain InjuryUniversidade da Coruña
- Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury Epileptogenesis Project (TRACK-TBI EPI)University of Pennsylvania
- Multimodal Assessment and Prognosis in Disorders of Consciousness After Severe Brain Injury (CyDoC-MAP)Nicosia General Hospital
- Telehealth Specialty Concussion Treatment for YouthUniversity of Rhode Island
- Knowledge and Intentions of French Adults Regarding Abusive Head Trauma in Infants: An Online SurveyAssistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
Research already completed
- Evaluation of Pin Buckle Bone Plates for Management of Anterior Mandibular FracturesSuez Canal University
- Evaluation of Neuronal Damage in Patients Undergoing Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy With BiomarkersAkdeniz University
- Balance After Traumatic Brain InjuryVA Office of Research and Development
- Impact of Instability Training on Vestibular Dysfunction in Postconcussion Combat AthletesRiphah International University
- Collaborative Care in Posttraumatic EpilepsyWake Forest University Health Sciences
- Temozolomide (TMZ) In Advanced Succinate Dehydrogenase (SDH)-Mutant/Deficient Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST)Adam Burgoyne, MD, PhD
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Head InjuriesAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
- Overview of Head InjuriesMerck & Co., Inc.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Brain MRI (Head MRI)Radiological Society of North America
- Head CT (Computed Tomography, CAT Scan)Radiological Society of North America
- Ultrasound: Head (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
Treatments and Therapies
- Head Trauma, First AidVisualDX
- Head Trauma: First AidMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Craniocerebral TraumaNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Head InjuriesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Skull FracturesNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Craniocerebral Trauma, Skull Fractures. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Head Injuries, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.