If You Hit Your Head, Watch Out For These Symptoms... Even Days Later

These warning signs are subtle, but they're red flags you need medical attention.

Social Media Editor, HuffPost

When I tripped over my daughter’s bathroom stool and hit my head on the bathtub, I thought it was harmless. I didn’t lose consciousness or even have a bump on my head.

It wasn’t until hours later that I started feeling fatigued and a bit off. A few days later, I thought I felt back to normal until I tried to work on my laptop — and the world started spinning. A pounding headache and intense brain fog followed, and then I knew I was dealing with a concussion.

“Many people who experience a concussion don’t actually feel any of the symptoms until hours later,” explained Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, the chief of Spaulding’s brain injury rehabilitation program and co-director of the Sports Concussion Clinic at Mass General Brigham in Massachusetts.

Additionally, symptoms can “intensify or evolve over the first several days,” added Dr. Kevin Bickart, an assistant professor in neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Because of this, the criteria for diagnosing a concussion now include symptoms that appear within a 72-hour window, according to the 2023 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.

While many know to pay attention to symptoms right after a head injury, it’s often overlooked to watch for those that may appear hours, days or even weeks later. And because head injuries are common and can be debilitating, it’s important to know what to look for and when you need to seek help.

We talked to neurologists and concussion experts about these unexpected delayed symptoms, why they may not appear right away and what it means if you’re experiencing them.

First of all, what is a concussion exactly?

A concussion is a brain injury that’s “caused when the cells in the brain, the neurones, stretch or get otherwise damaged,”........

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