fall w/ head injury

[buddy697]

i am 69 yrs old, i recently fell backwards (about 2 wks ago) on a asphalt parking lot. i have been to emergency room two times from this fall, had ct scans and pelvic exrays doctor at hosp. said i might have slight concushion. when i fell i had large knot on upper back of my head i had bleeding from head injury i also had large amount light yellowish wartery fluid out of my nose at that time whitch i had no control over that lasted about 5 seconds i also landed on my tail bone whitch is still very sore. my main concern is the fluid that came from the nose a doctor which is a friend not my primary doctor, said this could possibly be a tear in the spinal fluid area. is this possible or likely.

[caregiver222]

Having had the unpleasant task of taking approximately 10,872 x-rays, more or less, over my lifetime, I can assure you that an x-ray will show what is commonly referred to in the medical profession as "ungotz". Consult an Italian medical dictionary for a more expansive definition. CT scans will work, but they expose you to an damaging amount of unnecessary radiation and show nothing that a T3 (3 Tesla) MRI will show even better. CT equipment was expensive and hospitals try to amortize the costs, but they are far more hazardous than an MRI, especially when used with dye contrast. The big problem you are likely to have a year or so down the line is nerve pain caused by damage to the cartilidge between the cervical vertebra. This is commonly called a whiplash injury.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Some amount of cerebrospinal fluid may leak if there is damage to cribriform plate which is at the upper end of the nose. Usually this damage heals on its own. An X-ray or preferably a CT scan of the para nasal sinuses including the ethmoid sinus should be done to see if there is any damage there (that is if the CTs you had did not include this). This is usually seen after whiplash injury and blunt head trauma (as in your case). Most such CSF bleeds resolve on their own and do not need any treatment.
It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage. Please discuss this with the neurosurgeon or neurologist. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!