So my daughter hit her head over the weekend and has a sizeable bruise on her forehead with a bump or swelling. It hasn't gotten better, but worse over the past four days, and today she developed bruising on her inner eyes out of nowhere, basically bilateral black eyes. My husband thinks the bruising on the eyes might be the result of hitting her nasal bridge as well as her forehead, but why would the bruises show up several days later? It was weird, the head bruise was there on Monday, but the eyes just slowly got blacker and blacker today. She is acting normal. Am I overreacting or should I call the doctor?
So I called the peds office and they said the same thing about the black eyes that many of you said, that it is blood "migrating" down the face from the contusion. However, they said it would be good to bring her in just so they could have a look at it. The ped checked for a concussion and checked the swelling and said it was okay. I'm glad I got it checked though. Thanks everybody!
My daughter got hit in the forehead and after a few days the bruising drained into her eyes giving her two black eyes for a couple weeks.
Deep bruises typically take several days to work themselves to the surface of the skin. (I was reminded of this about a year ago when a friend's teenage daughter was attacked at gunpoint and nearly raped. The investigators on the case had my friend take pictures of her daughter's body daily for a week as they knew some bruising would not show up right away and they wanted as much evidence as possible for prosecutors.)
I would call your daughter's doctor not so much about the bruising, but the swelling that is still there. Also, in reading something a few days ago (Parent's magazine) I saw that anytime a child is injured in the head they should be seen by a doctor regardless of how well they seem to be doing, and my experience has always been that our doctor says to bring them in just so they can be checked out.
When I was about 5 I was roller skating on my block and kept falling. I was holding two pez dispensers in my hands and would not let go of them, so I hit my forehead hard once. A day later I had two HUGE black eyes. It took forever for them to slowly fade away and I remember being very embarrassed to go to school. As an adult I had this happen once. I had my one year old son sleeping next to me. He sat up in the middle of the night and then flopped back. His big head hit me right on the cheekbone and BOY did it hurt. The next day or two I developed a black eye. I think it is totally normal and you do not need to go to the doctor.
It can take a few eyes for a black eye to bruise.
Two of my kids have had this happen. My daughter was about 6 and got a good goose egg on her forehead. She ended up with two black eyes. I called the pediatrician and was told it was perfectly normal.
Head injuries that cause bleeding can be serious. In this case, the blood drained into the eye sockets causing black eyes. That takes a while sometimes. The good news is that the blood had a place to go (the eye area) and did not stay in the area around the brain. This happened to me and that's how the doctor explained it.
It's a little late to check for a concussion but I'm hoping that you did that at the time. It wouldn't hurt to let the doctor know but as I said, it's probably too late to have her seen for a concussion and there's nothing you can do now except wait for the blood to be reabsorbed.
would say fairly normal if she hit her bridge, or brow ridge. It took my son to get a black eye, days after he was hit with a hard rubber ball from a friends kid. He took a direct hit to the eye, and nothing seemed amiss for 3 days. Then he got a purple green one
Always good to call the doctor on stuff like this.
I'd get her to urgent care. That sounds strange to me.
It takes time for the blood to work its way to the surface. I once hit my ankle on something and it was days later that the blood sort of settled into a bruise at the bottom of my feet which is not at all where I hit it.
The fact there there is bruising coming to the surface means there was some bruising/bleeding inside somewhere. The face and head have MANY small capillaries that can break easily - it is why any face or head wound bleeds so much. Most importantly for my pediatrician is always how they are acting. If she seems to feel OK and has not headaches anymore, etc. she is probably fine. However, it can never hurt to be seen, they can do a neurological exam (follow my finger with your eyes only, check pupil dilation by shining light in one eye and seeing if pupil contracts, etc.) to make sure she is not just feeling OK now but will be fine later.
I would call the doctor and have her seen
Go to Super Supplements, Walgreens, or Whole Foods and pick up some Arnica Gel or Cream. This is a homeopathic remedy that is SO effective! You just spread it around the bruises (leave room by the eyes, because it would sting) about three times a day. It heals up the bruise really quickly with no adverse effects. I've used this since a sample was handed out to everyone after an Aquasox game, and I've been so impressed. With little ones learning to walk and big kids in sports we go through a lot. But from first impact to totally gone it's usually only 2 days!
I personally would take her in. You never know with these lil ones.
