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Medical Author:

J Stephen Huff, MD

Coauthor:

Mary Huff, RN

Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Home care is appropriate when a person is known to have seizures, if the seizure is brief, and if the person recovers uneventfully. Usually, the patient is being treated by a neurologist and that doctor may need to be notified. However, there are some suggestions that may help prevent injuries associated with seizures as follows:

• Prevent injuries.
• Cushion the head.
• Loosen any tight neckwear.
• Turn the person on his or her side after the convulsion ceases. This may help drain any moisture or secretions from the person's mouth and prevent chocking or aspiration.
• Do not attempt to hold down or restrain the person.
• Do not place anything in the person's mouth or try to pry the teeth apart.
• Observe these items: length of seizure, type of movements, direction of any head or eye turning, amount of time to return to alertness and full consciousness.

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Epilepsy Epilepsy is a condition in which a person has recurrent seizures. A seizure is defined as an abnormal, disorderly discharging of the brain's nerve cells, result...learn more >>

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