Traumatic Brain Injury, most notably known as TBI is an injury that happens to people who have been through accidents that pertain to sports, vehicular accidents, explosions, or any activity that resulted in a strong blow to the head. People who suffer from this condition can experience effects that could last for just a few hours or may extend up to their entire lifetime. Though some cases of TBI can just be mild and non-life-threatening, some of them could be very deadly.
Basic Facts About TBI
Having someone in your family or circle of friends means that you have to tap into a great resource of help, and this piece of writing aims to be an enlightenment as to how the serious physical condition could be addressed and dealt with. When a person experiences a blow to the head, he may experience troubles with dealing with basic bodily functions for a while. People who experience jolts and bumps and could not attain TBI. It entirely depends on the strength of that blow which could range from mild, to moderate, to severe.
From a statistical standpoint, the majority of TBIs are just mild, mainly those that are caused by falling, bumping into things, and typical household accidents. Most often, mild concussion patients usually lose consciousness at around 15 minutes or less. In addition, they may also feel dazed or confused.
These occurrences are often called “concussions.” Most people who suffer from this recover completely without any lasting or recurring effects, although they could be more prone to other problems that might occur if their heads are hit again. If they have not fully recovered yet, the chances of having TBI manifestations will be considerably higher compared to when they are healed already.
If unconsciousness lasts for more than 15 minutes to an hour, it is already classified as moderate TBI. The dizziness and confusion that results from it could last days or weeks. Severe TBI statistically affects mostly 10% of people who could be unconscious for 6 hours or more. Some of these patients could even be bedridden for many days or weeks. In that case, they will be declared as comatose, or be in a vegetative state.
It is important to understand that a TBI patient does not need to have an open wound, a skull fracture, or become unconscious to sustain a head injury. While most people do become unconscious when experience a severe blow to the head, some can actually remain conscious not knowing that they have the injury already. Some people may also be less sensitive to pain making them completely unaware that a serious condition is already taking place in their skull area.
It is also crucial to acknowledge that the quality of life that a person may have while dealing with either moderate or severe TBI greatly varies. Some with just a moderate case may have a worse quality of outcome than those who belong to the severe category. That highly depends on the kind of treatment and medication that the patient will undergo or be subject with.
Detection and Treatment
To detect signs of concussions, there are basically four indicators for it. The first and most noticeable is physical. People with concussions may feel nausea or vomiting, and may be extremely sensitive to light and sound.
They may also feel intense headaches and may feel very tired. The second indicator is emotional. When suffering from a concussion, a person may feel depressed or may cry easily or uncontrollably. Another manifestation is feeling irritable and easily getting angry for just very minor reasons.
Logic and reasoning could also be impaired as a person with a concussion may have difficulty thinking clearly, which is the third indicator. Some people even go as far as claiming that their moments are live being in constant slow-motion. The fourth indicator is sleep. While under a concussion, a person may sleep a lot more or a lot less. Depending on the strength of the hit they sustained, such conditions may last for just a few hours to many weeks.
Another set of important factors to know about TBI is the difficulty to balance, stay in good posture, and walking impairment. It could also include blurry vision, a hindrance to speaking properly, and having trouble swallowing. Internally, those people with TBI may have poor bowel or bladder control, which could lead them to urinate uncontrollably or give out their feces without noticing directly that they are already doing it. They may also lack limb coordination which is often called motor impairment. Sexual and reproductive issues may also occur.
The Glasgow Coma Scale
In measuring the severity of TBI, doctors may use the Glasgow Coma Scale a person’s level of alertness after suffering from a head injury. The numerical scale of the said test ranges from 1 to 15. When a person is rated at 15, it means that he is fully awake and has already attained full-level consciousness. While having a score of less than 4 declares a person to be in a coma. The Glasgow Scale measures three kinds of responses, eye response, verbal response, and motor response.
A person having a score of 13-15 would be declared to have mild TBI, while a person with 9-12 would have moderate TBI. Having 1-8 indicates severe TBI. Doctors may declare a TBI as moderate or severe depending on how long a person is unconscious, in addition to the data gathered after running some medical tests right after the injury.
Since head injuries are among the most serious of all bodily injuries, they have to be treated in the most strategic and precise manner. If a person is experiencing seizures, slurred speech, vomiting, numbness, and even unusual confusion, they have to undergo immediate clinical treatment as those could be major initial indicators of serious mental manifestations that could get worse later on.
The treatment and medication of TBI depend on how bad the injury is. A mild TBI may just be cured by a simple rest and just allowing time to pass. In cases of moderate or extreme ones, therapy may include a combination of physical, mental, and occupational procedures which could be both timely and expensive. By being subjects to such procedures, people who suffer from concussions could be motivated into better ways of thinking, moving, and doing some meticulous mental tasks that involve planning and logical reasoning.
Conclusion
To come up with a truly productive method of treatment, physicians would engage themselves in thorough discussions and lengthy communications with the family of the patient, as well as with the patients themselves, as long as the patient is capable of expressing his own views and ideas. Family members also serve a very important role in the healing process of the patient. This would require them to extend their patience, care, and support to the longest reach possible.
TBI can have a huge impact on people in so many ways. Since the condition could last throughout the lifetime of a person, the ones who will care for the patient will also deal with the hardships and challenges to come along the way. That is why at the very first signs of symptoms, immediate treatment must be issued. By doing so, the great majority of those who acquired the injury will surely recover. With methodical approaches to dealing with TBI, the victims or patients can still get back to the lives they always wanted.
I have a patient with GCS 3 after the accident, now its amazing that he is back walking, mostly functional in almost all activities of daily living. Physical Therapy really helps a lot, the only thing that hinders greatly is cognitive and memory lapses.