Head Injuries vs. Traumatic Brain Injuries: Causations, Distinctions, Similarities, Relationships and Treatments, Part II
When a head injury occurs, it is often not possible to immediately discern its severity or whether, in fact, it rises to the level of a traumatic brain injury. That determination might only be possible after a CT scan or MRI. Nonetheless, immediate medical care is needed. This is particularly true if the individual:
• Becomes very sleepy
• Behaves abnormally
• Develops a severe headache or a stiff neck
• Has pupils of unequal size
• Is unable to move one or more arms or legs
• Loses consciousness, even briefly
• Vomits more than once
Further, while a concussion is a traumatic brain injury that results in the temporary loss of normal brain function, sometimes there is no apparent sign of trauma or loss of consciousness. Yet, the individual frequently experiences memory loss of what occurred before or after the injury and may act confused. Memory, speech, balance, reflexes and muscle coordination may be affected. Although some concussions are “mild” and are not catastrophic, they are nonetheless traumatic brain injuries.
A traumatic brain injury, in the fullest sense of the term, can be a catastrophic injury. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons defines a traumatic brain injury as a blow to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe depending upon the extent of damage to the brain.
Symptoms of this potentially catastrophic type of injury vary depending upon its severity. They may include any or all of the following, and others:
• Vomiting
• Lethargy
• Headache
• Confusion
• Paralysis
• Loss of consciousness
• Coma
• Dilated pupils
• Vision changes, including blurred vision, diplopia, intolerence to bright light, loss of eye movement or total blindness
• Loss of cerebrospinal fluid
• Dizziness and balance issues
• Slow pulse
• Slow breathing rate with increased blood pressure
• Cognitive difficulties
• Inappropriate emotional responses
• Slurred speech, or inability to understand or to articulate words
• Difficulty swallowing
• Body numbness or tingling
• Facial or eyelid weakness
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
Among the outgrowths of a traumatic brain injury can be secondary, diffuse injuries. These are microscopic changes that cannot be seen on CT scans and that are scattered throughout the brain. One type is the diffuse axonal injury, which refers to the gradual loss of some axons. Axons are extensions of nerve cells that allow cells to communicate with each other. If enough of them are lost or impaired, the individual may be left greatly disabled. Another outgrowth can be ischemia, which is an insufficient blood supply to certain parts of the brain. A sufficient blood supply to the brain is paramount to the recovery of an individual who has sustained a traumatic brain injury .
Once acute care and medical treatment have done all possible for the treatment of the traumatically or catastrophically injured client, post-acute rehabilitation, such as that provided by NeuLife, is required. NeuLife creates and implements Client Goal Plans consisting of clinically relevant services, innovative neurorehabilitative care and other specialized rehabilitation for even the most challenging diagnoses. NeuLife’s goal is to provide rehabilitative care that ensures the best possible, successful and sustained outcomes to achieve the greatest degree of independence of its clients.
NeuLife, in Mount Dora, Florida, is a fully accessible residential post-acute program providing superior care and specialized rehabilitation to individuals diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic amputations and other catastrophic injuries.
2725 Robie Avenue
Mount Dora, Florida 32757
Call: 800.626.3836
Email: Info@NeuLifeRehab.com
Visit: NeuLifeRehab.com
