Brain injuries are devastating, life changing, and they generally are not obvious to the casual observer. These silent injury's are hard to spot because often times the victim doesn't even know something ids wrong, this is called the "silent epidemic"
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an insult to the brain caused by an external physical force with or without skull fracture that may produce a diminished or altered level of consciousness. Some of the cause of brain injury are:
Diffuse axonal injury
Concussion
Contusion
Coup-Countrecoup injury
The impact of a moderate to severe brain injury can include:
Cognitive deficits including difficulties with:
- attention
- concentration
- distractability
- memory
- speed of processing
- confusion
- perseveration
- impulsiveness
- language processing
- "executive functions"
Speech and Language
- not understanding the spoken word (receptive aphasia)
- difficulty speaking and being understood (expressive aphasia)
- slurred speech
- speaking very fast or very slow
- problems reading
- problems writing
Sensory
- difficulties with interpretation of touch, temperature, movement, limb position and fine discrimination
Perceptual
- the integration or patterning of sensory impressions into psychologically meaningful data
Vision
- partial or total loss of vision
- weakness of eye muscles and double vision (diplopia)
- blurred vision
- problems judging distance
- involuntary eye movements (nystagmus)
- intolerance of light (photophobia)
Hearing
- decrease or loss of hearing
- ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- increased sensitivity to sounds
Smell
- loss or diminished sense of smell (anosmia)
Taste
- loss or diminished sense of taste
Seizures
- the convulsions associated with epilepsy that can be several types and can involve disruption in consciousness, sensory perception, or motor movements
Physical Changes
- physical paralysis/spasticity
- chronic pain
- control of bowel and bladder
- sleep disorders
- loss of stamina
- appetite changes
- regulation of body temperature
- menstrual difficulties
Social-Emotional
- dependent behaviors
- emotional ability
- lack of motivation
- irritability
- aggression
- depression
- disinhibition
- denial/lack of awareness
If you have been in accident where you believe your head was injured and /or suffer from the above symptoms: Call John Anderson at 949-492-9944
