Did you know that every year over 2 million people suffer from a traumatic brain injury? With this many people suffering from brain injuries you or a loved one might have to deal with this in the future. Understanding the different types of brain injuries will help you know what to look out for.
Keep reading to learn about the most common types of TBI.
1. Hemorrhage
This injury is uncontrolled bleeding that occurs in the brain. The bleeding can happen within your brain tissue, or in the space around your brain. If it happens in the space around the brain it is called a subarachnoid hemorrhage and within your brain tissue, it is called intracerebral hemorrhage.
Subarachnoid hemorrhages cause vomiting and headaches while the severity of intracerebral hemorrhages will depend on how much bleeding there is. Keep in mind that over time any amount of blood will cause pressure buildup.
Contacting a TBI attorney is a smart move if your head injury occurs from a car accident, work accident, or anything that was not your fault. They can guide you through any legal process when it comes to being compensated for being out of work or for your medical bills.
2. Concussion
This is a common head injury that occurs when playing sports or during physical activity. Whenever the head is hit hard enough to cause the brain to shake inside of the skull a person will suffer from a concussion. These injuries are caused by a direct hit to the head from getting punched, kicked, car whiplash, falling, shot, etc.
Recovery from a concussion is typically short and sometimes a concussion might even go unnoticed but over time repeated concussions will lead to permanent brain damage. If you or your child is playing a sport like football, you will want to always keep an eye on concussions during a game because they have a high probability of suffering from a concussion due to the physical demand the sport comes with.
If the concussion is severe enough it can lead to permanent brain damage. A doctor should be seen right away to assess whether you or a loved one suffered a concussion or not.
3. Hematoma
This head injury is a collection of blood outside the blood vessels. If there is ever a hematoma in the brain it can be a very serious injury that will require medical attention quickly.
Blood clots can lead to pressure inside of the skull which can then lead to losing consciousness or it can also lead to permanent brain damage.
4. Skull Fracture
Unfortunately, the skull does not have any bone marrow like most bones in the body. This means that if it breaks it can’t absorb the impact from the hit. Not having any bone marrow makes it more difficult to fracture or break than a bone but if this does occur it will more than likely end up leading to damage to the brain.
5. Edema
All brain injuries can lead to swelling or edema. Any time we are injured on our bodies, the surrounding tissues swell up in response to the injury. When our brain is injured it is a bit more serious because the skull does not have the ability to accommodate the swelling that occurs.
This ends up leading to pressure buildup in the brain and it forces the brain to press against the skull.
6. Diffuse Axonal Injury
This head injury damages the brain cells without having any bleeding present. This cell damage will result in the cells not being able to function and will end up causing swelling which will cause further damage.
The cell damage is caused by severe shaking that causes tears in the brain structure and the tearing creates neurochemical disruptions. These disruptions can lead to a coma, motor function disruption, memory disruption, and many other disruptions.
This injury is not as visible as other brain injuries because there is no bleeding involved it is one of the most dangerous types of head injuries which can lead to either permanent brain damage or it can even lead to death.
Head Injury Symptoms
Not all head injuries cause bleeding which is why it is important to be aware of other symptoms to keep an eye out for. These are some of the symptoms you want to look out for after any type of head injury:
- headaches
- spinning sensations
- dizziness
- nausea
- confusion
- lightheadedness
- lethargy
- ears ringing
- vomiting
- seizures
- hard time focusing eyes
- mood changes
- muscle control loss
Keep in mind that these symptoms might not show up for a few days after a head injury. Sometimes a person will fall and suffer from a serious head injury and have no idea because they never become unconscious. All head injuries should not be taken lightly, a doctor should be seen right away if there are ever any symptoms following a hit to the brain.
Now you Know the Main Types of Brain Injuries
As you can see there are quite a few different types of brain injuries and being aware of them is good in case you ever have to deal with one of these in the future. Thankfully everyone can recover from a traumatic brain injury and continue to live normally after healing.
There will be a lot of downtime and challenging times soon after the injury but over time everything should return back to the pre-injury days.
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I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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