[stevegee]

Im back again. Yesterday I banged my head really hard on the rear of my skull on a bathroom concrete towel rack. Ive got a bump back there and it hurts but no real headaches otherwise or nausea.

But I feel like I hurt it so hard that I could have a skull fracture. Then again - maybe Im crazy.

I live in NYC and the idea of spending hours in the er is almost as horrifying as the injury itself. And not really sure what they can do for me there.

Basically Im driving myself nuts and needed to vent. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[Doozer]

If it puts your mind at rest, get it checked out. If you aren't suffering any symptoms out of the ordinary, that's a good sign.

[Jomar]

Did you ice the bump to see if swelling goes down?
Ibuprofen or such for pain & inflammation, as along as no other meds taken will contradict that.
Did the skin break open, any bleeding?

Most likely it is just very sore & bruised.

[Mark in Idaho]

stevegee,

There is a lot of tissue over the skull with lots of nerves that can get bruised and feel painful without causing much trauma to the brain. If you did not develop any dizziness, nausea, severe headache or such, an ER visit will just be undue stress and expense. From what I have discovered, most health plans have a $300 or more copay for an ER visit. If this was at work, Work Comp will pay for you to get checked out but may be problematic for your employment status. But, if it was at work, you should at least file a notice/report of injury for your employer's record.

[Doozer]

Whilst the health service in the USA seems to be of a decent standard, it sure does sound complicated. Our nhs is slow and you have to be persistent, but there's no worry about payment this or insurence that. That's an upside. My wife's 2 brain operations to treat her tumour have run into the tens of thousands if we had to pay for it, probably more like over £100,000 if you include all of the Mri and cat scans. We would have lost our house most likely if we had insurence and they wouldn't pay out or we had to find the money ourselves. I dare say a similar system over such a large country with different states and laws would be much more difficult to implement.

[Mark in Idaho]

There is good access to basic and emergency care in the US, so much so that health insurance companies had to establish high co-pays for ER visits to cause people to go to urgent care clinics and doctors offices. A basic ER visit can cost a health insurance plan $800 where as an office visit or urgent care clinic visit costs $120 to $200 or less. Some ER's have a triage nurse who does a basic exam and diverts non-emergency patients to urgent care clinics or doctor's offices.

Work place injuries are often sent to industrial medicine clinics that specialize in the paperwork needed to charge Workers' Compensation insurance companies.