What is A Traumatic Brain Injury?
When someone gets hit in the head, chances are, he or she is suffering from a traumatic brain injury.
There are different ways how this can happen. This could be caused by blunt force when someone hits the head with an object, the vehicle stops suddenly after bumping into another car or even falling off a bicycle.
Traumatic brain injuries are classified into two namely open and closed. If the skull is damaged, doctors will call this to be an open injury. If it just some minor scrapes in the head, then that is the time it is a closed injury.
People are advised to see a doctor immediately should the person get hit in the head. This is especially when the victim starts to experience blurred vision, a headache, memory problems, nausea and sleeping problems.
Those that do not take the situation seriously could soon suffer from paralysis or even death because proper medical attention was not administered. Neither the patient nor the doctor will know the extent of the injury without conducting some tests like an X ray or a CT scan.
But aside from getting hit in the head, there are also other ways in which people may still suffer from a traumatic brain injury.
If the person has been exposed to hazardous chemicals by inhaling it, this can also happen. Some examples of these are insecticides, carbon monoxide and lead poisoning. This is the reason that people are supposed to wear safety gear and masks while drivers are supposed to kill their engines in an enclosed space.
Traumatic brain injuries may also be caused by an infection that started somewhere else and was not treated.
Hypoxia is another example of a traumatic brain injury. This happens when body is deprived of oxygen for a long period of time.
Patients that have suffered from a stroke or a heart attack will also experience a traumatic brain injury because it causes damage to memory, speech and motor abilities.
Studies have shown that people that soldiers are also at risk of traumatic brain injury because they are not used to seeing blood and death. In fact the symptoms are very similar to someone that has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
This is the reason that people who suffer from traumatic brain injuries may also suffer from confusion, depression, difficulty in understanding things, dizziness, epilepsy, fatigue impulsiveness, irritability and poor concentration or attention
In fact, it is very tricky to diagnose someone that has suffered from a traumatic brain injury and the patient is advised to come back for regular testing while treatment is ongoing.
Physical therapy, counseling and medication are just a few examples of what is available to help someone with a traumatic brain injury.
In fact, research is still ongoing in research labs all across the country especially when some patients have not recovered fully from a traumatic head injury. In the mean time, the patient will just have to use whatever that medical science has available until something better has been discovered.
Friends and family members should also accept the situation and do their share by being patient , understanding and optimistic. It wouldn’t hurt to also pray that a miracle will happen so he or she will be normal again after suffering from a traumatic brain injury.
Head Injury Tip #1
Any injury to the head should be taken very seriously. Otherwise, the injured person could suffer from paralysis or even death if necessary medical treatment is not administered immediately. Without conducting some tests, like x-ray and/or CT scan, the injured or the doctor will not know the extent of the injury.
Head Injury Tip #2
Observe the injured person constantly for additional symptoms that may develop. Document these changes meticulously to help the patient's physician in diagnosing the extent of the brain injury, since onset of symptoms may occur days, weeks or months after the initial injury.
Head Injury Tip #3
Get as much details as soon as possible about the incident that caused the traumatic brain injury. Whatever the cause of the injury - car accident, work-related, working around the house, etc., it will be important to have all the details documented in case the cause of the injury ends up in court.