Kenneth Goldblatt | October 20, 2018 | Personal Injury
Lives are changed in an instant when someone experiences Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). TBI is an acquired injury of the brain due to sudden trauma. Brain trauma can occur in a variety of ways. Participation in athletic activities, sudden impacts like car crashes, or catastrophic events in the environment can cause someone to experience a traumatic brain injury near Suffolk County.
Signs and Symptoms
Mild, moderate, or severe symptoms may be experienced after a traumatic brain injury. A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms include:
• Headache
• Confusion
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness blurred vision or tired eyes
• Ringing in the ears
• Bad taste in the mouth
• Fatigue or lethargy
• A change in sleep patterns
• Behavioral or mood changes
• Trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking.
Other symptoms to watch for when a TBI is suspected are:
• Headache that gets worse or does not go away
• Repeated vomiting or nausea
• Convulsions or seizures
• An inability to awaken from sleep
• Dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes
• Slurred speech,
• Weakness or numbness in the extremities
• Loss of coordination
• Increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.
Treatment
The most important concerns to address when treating TBI include ensuring proper oxygen supply to the brain and the rest of the body, maintaining adequate blood flow, and controlling blood pressure. X-rays and CT scans may be performed to locate and isolate any related physiological injuries. Once a traumatic brain injury has been experienced, there is little that can be done to reverse the damage already caused. Health care providers often stabilize a TBI patient so that more injury cannot occur.
When recovering from a TBI, treatment activities may include:
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech/language therapy
• Physiatry (physical medicine)
• Psychology/psychiatry
• Social support
About half of brain injury patients will need surgery to remove or repair hematomas (ruptured blood vessels) or contusions (bruised brain tissue). Disabilities resulting from a TBI depend upon the severity of the injury, the location of the injury, and the age and general health of the individual. Some common disabilities include
• Problems with cognition (thinking, memory, and reasoning)
• Sensory processing (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell)
• Communication (expression and understanding)
• Behavior or mental health (depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, acting out, and social inappropriateness).
More serious head injuries may result in stupor, an unresponsive state (but one in which an individual can be aroused briefly by a strong stimulus such as sharp pain); coma, a state in which an individual is totally unconscious, unresponsive, unaware, and unarousable; vegetative state, in which an individual is unconscious and unaware of his or her surroundings, but continues to have a sleep-wake cycle and periods of alertness; and a persistent vegetative state (PVS), in which an individual stays in a vegetative state for more than a month.
Recourse
Goldblatt & Associates, P.C. are experts in Suffolk County dealing with traumatic brain injury cases. They help many people on the path to wholeness again after a TBI. Planning for treatment, rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and continuing health care are important considerations when dealing with traumatic brain injury. They have the experience and the knowledge to help brain injury patients in Suffolk County recover from their injuries with responsible planning and accountability. For more information about how Goldblatt & Associates can help after a traumatic brain injury, visit them on the Web at:
(914) 788-500
(800) 567-9888