This is a note for the days after a knock to the head, when simple routines start to feel like work. Hair is one of those routines. It gets handled every morning, usually without much thought, and it sits close to the scalp and to the spot where a bump may have landed. Many people in the St. Louis metro notice small things about their hair in the days after an injury and never write them down. This page offers a plain way to start a log you can bring to an examination.
Nothing here is a diagnosis. It is educational. If you have had a blow to the head and you are unsure how serious it is, or if symptoms are getting worse, get checked promptly rather than waiting to see whether a log would show anything.
Why hair can matter
Your scalp has nerves and small muscles that respond to touch and tension. A ponytail pulled tight, a braid worked close to the hairline, or a clip that grips the same spot all day can add pressure to a place that already feels tender. That pressure is not the same as an injury, but it can make you more aware of the area, and it can change how a headache feels to you. Writing down what you were doing with your hair when a headache started or shifted is simple information a clinician may find useful to consider.
What to note each day
Keep a short entry each day for the first two weeks after a knock, or longer if your provider asks. Write the date, the time you styled your hair, and the style itself. Note whether it was loose, pulled back, braided, clipped, covered by a wig or a headband, or left alone. Then describe your head in plain words: where it hurts, whether the pain feels dull, sharp or pressing, and how it compares to the day before. A sentence or two is enough.
Add one line about brushing and washing. Did you brush hard, or work through knots at the back of the head? Did you scrub the scalp, or lean your head back over a sink for a long rinse? Did a stylist touch the same spot for a long time? These details sound minor, but they are exactly the sort of thing that slips from memory by the next morning, especially on a foggy day.
Small changes people often try
Some people choose looser styles for a few days, switch from a thin elastic to a wide fabric tie, skip tight braids, or let the hair fall away from a sore area. Others use a soft brush and detangle from the ends upward instead of from the roots. These are everyday adjustments, not treatments. They do not reverse an injury, and no hair habit can promise to make a headache go away. If a change seems to help, write that down too, with the date, so you can describe it accurately later.
Avoid anything that pulls on the scalp in the same spot every day, and give tender areas a break. If something causes sharp pain when touched, stop and note it before you continue.
Signs that call for prompt care
Hair habits are not the place to wait. Seek emergency care right away if a headache after a head injury is sudden and severe, keeps getting worse, or comes with confusion, drowsiness that is hard to wake from, repeated vomiting, trouble speaking, weakness or numbness on one side of the body, a seizure, or changes in vision. Also get checked promptly if you develop a new headache after a fall, a hit, or a collision during sport, even if it seems mild at first.
When you bring your log to an examination, bring it with the dates filled in. A clinician can weigh your notes alongside what they observe and any tests they choose to order. Your entries are a record of what you noticed, not a conclusion about what is wrong.
Keeping the log simple
Paper works well. So does a plain note on your phone that you can read aloud at a visit. Keep sentences short. Write the time, the style, the touch and the result, and skip anything that does not help you remember. If you miss a day, leave it blank and keep going. Consistent, short entries are more useful than long ones written once in a rush.
Your hair is part of your daily routine, and so is your headache log. Keeping both simple can make the next visit easier to talk through, and it can help you notice patterns that are hard to hold in memory on a bad day.