What Types of Injuries Are Commonly Associated With a Traumatic Brain Injury?
You’ve fallen down and hit your head, or you’ve been in a car accident and suffered whiplash or bumped your head on the dashboard. It’s likely that you’ve sustained a traumatic brain injury. What does that mean? What physical consequences can you expect?
The Ways a TBI Can Affect Your Brain
A traumatic brain injury may be limited to a small part of your brain. More often, though, the injury will be classified as a “diffuse axonal injury,” or DAI, which generally involves a large part of your brain.
Most traumatic brain injuries are caused by the brain bouncing off the inside of your skull. When that happens, the cells and nerves in your brain can be stretched, twisted, torn, or bruised. When those consequences are mild, a TBI is referred to as a concussion. More serious injuries may be diagnosed as a moderate or severe TBI.
Specific physical consequences of a traumatic brain injury can include:
- Contusions—Contusions involving swelling or bruising are typically a result of broken blood vessels leaking into brain tissue. While you may have contusions at the point of impact with your brain, it’s also common to have them on the opposite side of your brain. Contusions can take hours or days to have an impact.
- Hematomas—Bleeding in the brain, known as hematoma, is commonly the consequence of a damaged blood vessel.
- Skull fractures (if the impact is significant enough)
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy—The term “encephalopathy” refers to any physical condition that compromises brain function. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a neurological condition that typically results from repeated blows to the head and that causes a gradual interference with or loss of cognitive function. CTE can also lead to tremors, loss of coordination, and other physical debility.
- Post-traumatic dementia—Studies indicate that up to 15% of all dementia cases may be linked to a traumatic brain injury
Contact Core Medical Center Today
At Core Medical Center, with offices in Blue Springs, Missouri, we have extensive experience helping men and women who suffer any type of concussion or other traumatic brain injury. We have the tools and resources to accurately assess your condition and either prescribe a regimen of treatment or refer you to a specialist, if necessary. Contact us online or call our offices at (819)229-1941 to schedule an appointment.
