Avoid the ER: Busting the Myth That You Can’t Sleep After Hitting Your Head

By Brian Kendall, MD | Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician

As a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine physician practicing for over ten years, I’ve seen a lot of frustration.

Frustration about the cost of the ER.
Frustration about the wait time.
Frustration about who gets seen first.
And frustration when an ER visit doesn’t turn up any clear answers.

I am on a mission to stop that frustration.

So today, I’m tackling one of the most common myths that sends people to the ER unnecessarily:

“You can’t let someone go to sleep after hitting their head.”

No joke—I hear this every single shift. Parents, spouses, friends, and even patients themselves come in because of it.

And when I explain they actually can sleep, and inform them of all the evidence on head injuries and who does and doesn’t need to come to the emergency department, they’re understandably frustrated to realize they just spent time, money, and energy unnecessarily.

So let’s talk about where this myth came from—and what really matters after a head injury, so that you don’t have to experience the same frustration.