Traumatic Brain Injuries Complications

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• QWhy did a traumatic brain injury affect my entire body?

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  A Pam Hays , Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, answered

  The core of your being is your brain.  What happens in our bodies that is NOT controlled by our brain?  Your brain controls how you relate to your spouse, your parents, your children and everyone else in your life.  Your brain helps you decide whether to eat pizza or steak for dinner and whether or not to go to a ballgame or stay home and play with your children.  So, if your brain is altered due to traumatic injuries, these thought and decision-making processes might also be altered. 
  
  When someone looks completely the same as they did before injury, yet their responses, actions, abilities, thoughts, or speech is changed, it is difficult to understand the impact on the injured person.  But, to the person who has a traumatic brain injury, the wounds are real. 

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• QWhy am I so clumsy after a traumatic brain injury?

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  A Challenge America answered

  Because traumatic brain injury damages parts of the brain, TBI can impair the functions the brain regulates. Some people with TBI have problems with vision, which affects balance and walking. Others have difficulty identifying or recognizing items, which can lead to falls or bumping into objects. Many people with TBI have problems with movement, causing them to be unsteady in walking, sitting or even standing. After suffering traumatic brain injury, some people can no longer play sports or recreational activities such as baseball, soccer, golf or tennis because of lack of coordination.
• QWhy do I have cognition problems with TBI?

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  A Challenge America answered

  Cognition is a scientific term that refers to the processes of thinking, reasoning, problem solving, information processing, and memory. Even with mild to moderate TBI, people may suffer loss of cognitive function or cognition. Cognitive disabilities include losing executive functions such as the ability to plan, organize, problem solve, and make proper judgments.
  
  Some people with a severe TBI suffer post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). They may have poor memory of what happened prior to the TBI (retrograde) or forget events that happened after the TBI (anterograde). Experts claim that the greatest recovery from cognitive disabilities is during the first six months after the TBI. After that time, the recovery may be far more gradual.
• QWhy do I feel as if my personality changed with the TBI?

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  A Challenge America answered

  Some aspects of your personality did change with traumatic brain injury (TBI). When parts of the brain are injured, it can affect social emotional behaviors that may result in feelings of irritability, aggression, depression, lack of motivation, fluctuating emotions and even feelings of dependency. You may feel stressed out for no reason at all. You may laugh or cry inappropriately and have no control over your emotions. You may now feel introverted and depressed when you used to be extroverted and optimistic. Perhaps you used to be a calm and controlled person, yet now you are agitated and angry after TBI.
  
  Nothing you did caused these personality changes. Rather, they are the result of brain damage caused by TBI. Talk openly with your doctor about any emotional changes with TBI. Your doctor can work with you to find the best medication and/or psychotherapy to help you regain control.
• QWhat happens if traumatic brain injury affects the right side of the brain?

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  A Challenge America answered

  If TBI damages the right side of the brain, you will have right hemisphere brain damage. The brain  has two hemispheres, the left and right hemispheres. Each hemisphere controls specific bodily functions. The left hemisphere of the brain controls your language and speech centers. The right hemisphere controls all thinking skills or cognitive functioning. Damage to the right side of the brain may present problems such as impaired memory, attention deficit, altered creativity and music perception, and poor reasoning. Someone with right hemisphere damage will have difficulty with organization and problems understanding abstract concepts. In addition, an injury to the right side of the brain will result in decreased control over left-sided body movements and "left neglect," which means inattention to the left side of the body.
• QWhy did my doctor say TBI affected the left side of my brain?

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  A Challenge America answered

  The left hemisphere of your brain deals with speaking, language, and analyzing all the day-to-day information that’s given to your brain. If the traumatic brain injury affected the left hemisphere of your brain, you may have difficulty sequencing and problems speaking (called aphasia) and in understanding language. Left hemisphere brain damage may result in serious emotional reactions such as anxiety or depression and impaired logic. In addition, with left side of the brain injuries, you will notice decreased control over the right side of the body. This means if something touches your right hand, you may be oblivious to it, because the left side of your brain has lost awareness of the right side of the body.
• QHow does traumatic brain injury affect consciousness?

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  A Dr. Irene A. Semenov, DO , Neurology, answered on behalf of NorthShore University HealthSystem

  Traumatic brain injury ( TBI) occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. The damage can be focal - confined to one area of the brain - or diffuse - involving more than one area of the brain.
  
  A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms of mild TBI 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, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking.
  
  A person with a moderate or severe TBI may show these same symptoms, but may also have a 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, and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.
  

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• QWhy is it difficult to walk and move around with a TBI?

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  A Challenge America answered

  Because traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes changes in the brain, it makes it a challenge to stand, stay balanced, and walk without feeling clumsy or uncoordinated. Not only do you have noticeable physical changes, but your muscle movement and muscle coordination have been altered, making it hard to balance and even causing you to have fears of falling.
   
  In addition, sleep problems associated with TMI can cause you to feel drowsy during the daytime, making it more difficult to be active and do the necessary exercises to improve your strength and balance. Sensory changes that affect your vision can make you feel unsure of how to stay on a straight path when walking or moving.
• QHow can I deal with alcohol abuse with TBI?

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  A Challenge America answered

  Alcohol is known to numb pain and emotions to some degree. However, the effects are often short-lived and you can be left with TBI-related problems as well as the complicated side effects of addiction, depression, and possibly confusion. Alcohol is a substance that requires more and more to dull the discomfort of physical and emotional pain. In addition, alcohol is a depressant that leaves the drinker in a “down” mood once the effects wear off.
  
  Long-term use of alcohol also carries with it the danger of cognitive deficits such as memory difficulties, visual and special problems and decreased motor function. That’s not a smart trade-off if you have a brain injury that also causes similar problems. If you think you might be abusing alcohol, seek professional help. Talk with your VA doctor about the alcohol problem and follow your doctor’s recommendations.
• QWhy do I feel fatigued with traumatic brain injury?

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  A Darria Gillespie, MD , Emergency Medicine, answered

  It's not unusual to feel sleepier than normal after having a concussion--some people also may feel that they have confusion, memory loss, or just are thinking as if they're "in a fog".  
  Usually, symptoms will start to improve around one week, and resolve after 2-3 weeks.  You can help your symptoms by taking this time to get plenty of sleep, avoiding heavy physical activity, easing your load of mental activity (especially things that require a great deal of concentration), remaining well hydrated, and avoiding alcohol.  
  A concussion is your brain's way of telling you it's been injured--just the same as a bruise or cut on your skin. Listen to your concussion symptoms and modify your lifestyle as long as you have them--giving your brain the important time that it needs to heal and get back to normal.

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