Brain Injury – Who and How Does It Affect?

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is indiscriminate in who it impacts. Although this is true, certain people are more vulnerable than others. A person who is more susceptible to taking traumatizing hits to the head is far more likely to have their lives affected by this severe injury. For example, you are more likely to experience this injury if you are a professional boxer than an office manager.

TBI is a head injury that results in the brain moving inside the skull and bruising due to the impact with the cranium. Depending on the severity of the hit, the patient will experience a range of symptoms due to the brain not receiving adequate oxygen. An important note about TBI is that it is always the result of an external force, such as a head trauma that injures the brain. This is opposed to an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), which is the result of pressure to the brain on a gene level, like a stroke.

The most common causes of TBI are car accidents, sports injuries, falls or accidents, and physical violence. The people most susceptible to TBI are military personnel, high-impact sportspeople, an elderly who often falls, and 15-24-year-old males, due to having “high-risk behaviour”. As may be obvious, there is a correlation between the most common causes and the most vulnerable people.

It is not always immediately obvious that there has been serious trauma. Often, in contact sports, people will undergo TBI and not realize it. If you have been concussed, it is important you see a specialist.

Not all impacts are life-altering as some instances of TBI pass away relatively quickly. Light to medium knocks to the head cause confusion, lack of spatial awareness, and sometimes nausea. Patients usually make a speedy recovery. Although the brain has undergone some damage, the symptoms will only be short term. With more serious brain injury, people suffer life-changing and debilitating problems.

Depending on where the damage is localized, the patient could experience different symptoms. Brain damage symptoms scale with the severity of the impact. More serious ramifications include relearning to walk, loss of personal memories and facial recognition – with patients forgetting who they are. The patient may experience extreme emotional states and denial that they are experiencing TFI. Patients could lose motor skills or in most severe cases not know how to speak. The more severe the impact, the more severe the consequences.

If someone you know has been affected by a hard hit to the head and suffered a concussion, please contact us as it is important you speak to your physician as soon as possible. Contact our switchboard on (212) 241-6321