Health Information

Superficial Injuries to the Face and Head

In the course of a child's day, minor injuries may occur during play and sports activities. The face and head are especially at risk for cuts, scrapes, and lacerations because:

• children have much larger heads in comparison to the rest of their bodies than adults do. This creates a larger "target" when falls occur.
• children's center of balance is not completely adjusted yet due to their rapid growth and "bowed" position of the spine.
• children's feet are often "toed-in" causing them to trip and fall when walking and running.
• children like to move fast and often run rather than walk.
• children do not think about consequences for their actions and may act impulsively and create unsafe conditions, such as running with a pencil in their mouth or scissors in their hands.

Regardless of how careful you are about superficial injuries to the face and head in your home, or how many precautions you take when your child is outdoors playing, superficial injuries to the face and head do occur.

By remaining calm and knowing some basic first-aid techniques, you can help your child overcome both the fear and the trauma of superficial injuries to the face and head.

There are many different superficial injuries that may occur to the face and head that require clinical care by a physician or other healthcare professional. Listed in the directory below are some, for which we have provided a brief overview.

If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please visit the Common Childhood Injuries and Poisonings Online Resources page in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may contain additional information on that topic.