Viral meningitis do's & dont's

[Sounsure]

My daughter (5) was discharged from hospital 2 days ago with VM. Question may seem silly but can i wash her hair as normal? Im asking because of the headaches and because i wouldn't want to unintentionally hurt her.

[Jonad724]

There's no such thing as a silly question, well not on here anyway. Speaking as a VM survivor I think it depends on how sore your daughter's neck is and whether holding her head in an unusual position hurts or not. As an educated guess I would suggest wetting and rinsing her hair with small volumes of water as too much might put pressure on her neck and the sensation may not be too pleasant with a headache. Also if she needs to have her face pointed towards a light then that may not be too pleasant either even with eyes closed the light sensitivity can still be there.

To be honest I would leave it for a few days more as it's more important for your daughter to rest and allow her brain to not be too stimulated whilst it recovers. VM recovery is difficult to predict (and it's not always like a mild dose of flu like doctors will tell you) so for the next few days resting and quieter time is best in my experience.

I appreciate with a 5 year old that's not an easy ask but doing too much now can slow down the recovery. I'm volunteer community ambassador for Meningitis Now with a special interest in VM and so if I can help any further, please do PM me, always happy to help.

[Sounsure in reply to Jonad724]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me, I really do appreciate it

[Clarkjo in reply to Sounsure]

I hope your daughter is recovering well. If you need further help do not hesitate to ask. There is some info on the net on the best ways to recover from brain injury. Lots of rest, quiet low light environment, lots of fluid. I wish you all the best.