Open and closed head injuries

Outside forces

When a person receives an impact to the head from an outside force, it can injure the skin, skull, and the brain. These injuries can be categorised as either open or closed head injuries.

Open Head Injury

If the force that hits a person's head is great enough, the skull can fracture. When this happens, the person is described as having an "open head injury". This terminology is referring to the condition of the skull and not the brain.

Closed head injury

When a person receives an impact to the head from an outside force, but the skull does not fracture or displace this condition is termed a "closed head injury". Again, this refers to the condition of the skull and not the brain.

To contact our specialist legal team regarding open or closed head injuries, please call 0800 61 66 81.