posted
Any of the medical profession in the house?
My husband and I are trying to figure out if he did any damage to his head yesterday. He was under quite a bit of stress and in his frustration, he pushed quite hard on his skull. I will attempt to explain exactly what he did.
He was pushing forward with his body and head, and his hands were against his face, with his fingertips pressing quite hard into his forehead. The pressure was quite extreme--not something you would normally, or could normally, do to yourself. Immediately after doing this, he kind of fell out of his chair onto his knees in a hunched over position. It scared me half to death. He didn't black out.
Since then, he's had a constant headache. And he's hears a sort of crackling sound when he does things like pressing on his forehead (or just touching it, I'm not sure) and earlier today he heard the same thing when he was wearing sunglasses and a hat and was trying to look over the sunglasses. It is very strange.
We're wondering if it is possible that he actually did some damage. If anyone can offer some suggestions, that'd be great.
posted
I agree. Get in the car and go to the ER now. The symptoms you described are not normal. I'm not a doctor, but I know the skull shouldn't make cracking sounds when you push on it.
Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
It's crackling... just a little different from cracking...but yes, worrisome.
I don't think it is doing it anymore.
I'll try, but considering our horrible experiences at ERs in the past, I'm not so sure he'll agree. In any case, I'll keep a close eye on him. He's already slept once since then, and he woke up. (Obviously.. and thankfully.)
posted
Okay if he is being stubborn and you have no ability to change his mind (which, by the way, happens a lot with people having heart attacks..."oh, its just gas" and whammo...not to scare you but if he won't take it seriously, you should) then you got to take the next step. Call the ER. Or the hospital itself. Not sure where you live, but many of our local hospitals have a 24 hour "Ask a Nurse" hotline that might be able to give advice. They can't prescribe meds or diagnose but they can triage and give some advice. Let them know he won't go to ER, too. They might at least say "it can wait for him to go to his regular doctor" or "don't let him sleep" or "get him in here now."
Seek advice, but here isn't the place. Call ER and if you don't like the one closest to you, call another one. Lastly, call your regular doctor's office. They might have a 24 hour on-call person as well that can help problem solve. With any potential head injury, the longer you wait the more potential damage done. It could be nothing but do you want to second guess yourself if it isn't?
posted
I don't think I quite understand how this happened. Any way I can think of, he'd have hurt his neck before he would have cracked his skull.
Is there any kind of bruising?
Do his pupils dilate and undiale normally when exposed to light? If he looks at a pencil eraser as you move it slowly back and forth in front of his eyes, does he have any trouble tracking it?
I'll agree that the symptoms you describe are far enough outside the ordinary to warrant a trip to the emergency room.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Well, he wouldn't go last night. He slept well, getting up or moving often enough to keep me satisfied that he was still awake.
He's still got a headache, but he hasn't complained about any crackling lately. No bruising... and he hasn't mentioned any neck pain. I'll check his eyes when he comes back in here.
Thanks for the comments. I think he'll be alright, but I'll watch him extra carefully.
posted
I hope he feels better. I've squished my head between my hands on occasion, though I stop when it hurts.
On ething that helps a lot with some headaches is drinking water. Seems a lot of people get headaches from being mildly dehydrated, so drinling water may help with, you know, ordinary headaches. Which this probably isn't. Poor guy.
Though the title of this thread made me think of a client I had back when I worked with SSI Disability people. He'd shot himself in the head. Three times. Didn't kill him, but it didn't leave him good for much. I always wondered how someone would be coordinated enough to shoot themselves that third time, after having two bullets go through his brain.In any case, it was really sad.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Well, he might need an antibiotic. This happened to my little daughter two years ago. Either way, though, go to a doctor and get it checked out. Or, if nothing else, get something for the pain.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I am (or was) in the medical profession, and my advice is to get to a Doctor as soon as possible. If his symptoms are lessening, good...but he might have damaged something, and only a doctor would be able to tell.
Also, not all antibiotics work the same. If it is a sinus infection, he might need a higher dose of them, or a different one that works better.
posted
true, Kwea, and if it is a sinus infectin, he could need to take an allergy medicine along with a nasal spray. Doctor, doctor, doctor.
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posted
if his headack keeps up (as it has) another day, then do something. better to have the bills and have him be ok, then the other way around.
Posts: 264 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
If the pain is continual or recurrent, seek out a D.O. (a doctor of osteopathy) that routinely does manipulations. These doctors are actually taught how to realign skull plates, and there is the possibility that your husband could have shifted one inadvertantly.
One of my buddies is a D.O. and during one of the labs in which they were demonstrating this, he was the test subject who had his skull realigned. After the lab, he quietly went to the doctor and begged him to try to reverse what he had adjusted, because my friend had developed this splitting headache.
posted
Wow.. my husband was mentioning something about skull plates. He hasn't been complaining of a headache very much lately. It's interesting to know that it is actually possible to do something like that.
Thanks for the info. We think he's okay for now, but if necessary, we'll look into that kind of doctor.
posted
May I take this opportunity to express the fact that the American health care system sucks? There are far too many people in Katarain's position - having to decide whether or not to see a doctor in a worrisome case because they really can't afford anything non-life-threatening.
That is absurd. Health care is not a privilege. Poor people should not have to live with illnesses and injuries because nobody wants their tax dollars to go towards helping someone else.
Let's get over this "This is my money and I deserve it" attitude and start living on a higher plane where the well-being of others comes before our own petty comforts.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
I have this medical bill from last year. I was very sick--in a lot of pain, and I had to have an abdominal ultrasound and a few similar tests. The bill for the tests came to over $1400. This was quite a shock. There was no way we could pay. So, I called them to set up small payments. The lady was really nice and offered to send me the application to get the debt cancelled.
Unfortunately, it was a very complicated, full form that with my graduate classes, I never got to filling out--they wanted SO much information. They wanted the numbers of all of my credit cards and their expiration dates (Along with balance information). I never understood this. It seems like a BIG security risk to give someone all of that information. I should have followed up with it, but I didn't. It was only one of about 7 medical bills. Anyway, I think it is in collections by now.
The previous year, I had pretty good health insurance.
I'm still looking for a job. I really don't favor socialized medicine across the board, but a program for people with no health insurance would be VERY good. I don't expect to be in this situation forever. By the time a program like this was actually put in place, I'd be one of the ones helping pay for it. And I wouldn't mind a bit. I know what it is like. (And this instance is only ONE where we have decided against a doctor.)
posted
FYI, the claim that cranial plates can be induced to move in adult skulls by the application of hand force by a single person is not supported by science. (Here I respectfully disagree with the interpretation of events related by Alucard, but I'm sure that the actual events did happen as related. Interpretation is another layer, though.)
This is an area where MDs disagree with (some) DOs. There has never been any good study which documents the movement of cranial plates by non-mechanical touch after adolescence, by which time many are completely fused (as has been documented via neurosurgical techniques). Forensic examiners and anatomists have also been unable to demonstrate this can be done.
However, headaches have been stimulated in response to soft tissue injury, e.g. triggering of spasms in the muscles overlying the skull.
Despite evidence to the contrary, I do believe that the American Osteopathic Association still does not reject this claim.
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