Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is damage to the brain due to vehicular accidents, attacks, fall, or accidents at work and home. TBI can occur from a blow or bump to the head or penetrating trauma. The brain crashes back and forth within the skull when there’s an impact. This can result in bruising, shearing the nerve fibres, and bleeding. A gunshot wound is a penetrating brain injury; when you get struck in the head in a road accident, it is a non-penetrating injury.
Traumatic brain injuries have different levels of severity. Some people can recover from mild TBI within days after the accident. Other patients with more severe forms of TBI may experience a serious, permanent injury. Others die from TBI.
Anyone can have a traumatic brain injury. It can mostly happen to males, and those above 65 years old experience it. Seniors are most likely to lose their balance, fall and hit their heads. Infants can also have TBI due to child abuse or falling from a changing table or bed. Also at risk of TBI are people in these professions:
* police and law enforcement
* members of the military
* construction workers
* professional and recreational athletes
There are two main categories of traumatic brain injuries:
* Closed injuries do not fracture the skull
* Open injuries happen when the skull bone is penetrated and breaks, exposing the brain to the elements.
Within these categories, there are eight types of traumatic brain injury, as listed below:
- Concussions are the most common type of TBI. When your head gets struck by a strong force, your brain moves in the direction of the force and is injured when it collides with the skull.
- Contusions often happen along with concussions. It is a bruise on the brain with mild bleeding. Contusions that do not heal on their own can form into hematoma and should be removed by surgery.
- Brain haemorrhage is bleeding on the brain surface that cannot be controlled. The bleeding can be on the brain tissue itself.
- Intracranial hematoma is the blood that collects outside the blood vessel. Not treated immediately can lead to severe damage and even death.
- Coup-Contrecoup brain injury is a French term which translates to “blow and counter blow”. The coup injury happens under the direct point of impact, while the contrecoup affects the side of the brain, from where the blow hit.
- Diffuse axonal injury occurs when the brain is twisted or shaken within the skull. As the brain twists, it slides back and forth until the axons ( long connecting fibres in the brain) tear.
- Penetrating brain injuryhappens when an object (a bullet) penetrates the skull and brain.
- Second impact syndrome is also referred to as recurrent traumatic brain injury, where you have a second brain injury following your first one.
The brain injury treatment will depend on the type and severity of its damage. If the head injury caused only mild bruising, you can go home and take a rest; and return to your normal activities after a few days.
Head injury treatment may take longer and more effort for more severe brain injuries. However, the possibility is still really possible. Therapy will focus mainly on activating the brain neuroplasticity, allowing you to regain function. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form neural pathways allowing the undamaged brain areas to take over the function of the injured ones.
To activate neuroplasticity, the following therapies are recommended:
* Speech therapy can help retain the brain and gain language skills.
* Physical and occupational therapies, or brain physio – can help recover muscle strength and coordination so that you can get back to your daily physical tasks with more independence.
* Cognitive training can help improve memory, attention, problem-solving, and learning skills.
If you’re searching for a physiotherapy and rehabilitation facility somewhere in Hyderabad, you can visit Mission Walk Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Center. You may also call us at 91 91773 00194 or drop us a line at rehab@missionwalk.in if you have any questions or doubts that you want to be answered. With us, you can rest assured that we’ll surely answer it.
