The Most Common Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries, Explained

About 5.3 million Americans currently contend with disabilities that stem back to traumatic brain injuries. If you have recently sustained a TBI, getting quality treatment quickly must be a top priority. Beginning therapy ASAP decreases your chances of long-term disability.

Here, we’re going to talk about the most common TBI types and how professionals can help you treat them. Read on to get your life back on track after a devastating accident.

What Are Traumatic Brain Injuries?

Traumatic brain injuries are any injuries that impact the way your brain works. They’re serious medical issues that you should never take lightly. TBIs can impact every facet of your daily life in both the short-term and long-term.

Some common symptoms of TBIs include:

 

Luckily, there is a lot of research about TBIs out there. Medical professionals and neuroscientists have grown comfortable treating these injuries because they are so common. There are effective treatments for multiple types of TBIs, and while they’re not cure-alls, they can greatly decrease the long-term ramifications of a TBI in many cases.

Closed Brain Injuries

Closed brain injuries are a core type of TBI. Also called a “blunt TBI,” these injuries are non-penetrating. This means that they don’t break the skull and instead stem from the brain-rattling around inside of your head.

Usually, a closed brain injury is caused by rapid movements that bruise or tear the brain tissue and blood vessels. When it moves around inside the hard skull, it bounces and twists, which results in symptoms that show your brain is not functioning normally.

Blunt force to the head, like getting hit with heavy objects, is a common cause of blunt TBIs. Falls and car accidents frequently cause these injuries as well. Whiplash is a common cause of closed TBIs.

Concussions and Contusions

Over three in every four TBIs are mild, and concussions are the most common type of mild TBI. A concussion happens when a force strikes your head. The brain moves in the direction of the force until it hits your skull.

Even though concussions are often minor, it’s still critical that you see a health professional after they take place. Experts can confirm your suspicion that you’ll be okay.

Concussions are also often accompanied by contusions. Contusions are bruises on the brain that come with mild internal bleeding.

Usually, these heal on their own. In some extreme cases, though, they don’t heal and instead turn into a hematoma. This requires surgery to eradicate, so quick treatment is of the utmost importance.

Brain Hemorrhages

Brain hemorrhages also cause bleeding in the brain, but it’s more extreme than most contusions. The bleeding is uncontrolled and often on the surface of the brain. However, in some cases, the bleeding happens inside the brain tissue itself.

These injuries can be life-threatening when not treated properly. Luckily, experts have a lot of methods for helping those with hemorrhages and similar TBIs. Some of the most effective include electroencephalogram (EEG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV), though treatment will depend on your specific situation.

Diffuse Axonal Injuries (DAIs)

A DAI is one of the most serious types of traumatic brain injuries. It can cause lifelong debilitating health issues that decrease your quality of life. Without fast and effective professional treatment, DAIs can prove fatal.

A DAI happens when shaking or twisting of the brain causes its axons to tair. Axons are the long connecting fibers that make up the brain. They’re responsible for sending messages through neurons to the rest of your body, and tearing them means you lose function.

Sometimes these tears are microscopic, which makes them hard to find on an MRI. That’s why working with the best neurological care experts in Las Vegas is important.

More torn axons mean a more serious TBI, as do larger tears. Both quantity and size make a difference.

Penetrating Brain Injuries

Closed brain injuries come in many varieties. Their primary symptoms are paralysis, numbness, headaches, and loss of physical function. Penetrating brain injuries are a bit different and cause symptoms like seizures, epilepsy, and excessive bleeding.

As their name implies, a penetrating brain injury happens when a foreign object penetrates the brain. They’re most common in gunshot victims who take a bullet to the head. Sometimes people will also impale their heads on sharp objects or have them smashed in with other weapons, but this is rarer.

Those with penetrative brain injuries will often require reconstruction efforts as well as other TBI treatments.

Second Impact Syndrome

Second impact syndrome is also called a “recurrent traumatic brain injury.” It happens when you sustain one TBI and then get another subsequent TBI.

These are especially severe because you damage tissue that was already injured. Usually, the second injury has more severe impacts and symptoms than the first one. It can have extremely devastating impacts on your health because the injuries compound with each other and make each other worse.

Even if you feel fine after one TBI, you should get treatment. But this is even more important after a second one, regardless of how you feel and whether you lose consciousness. You don’t want to develop serious problems because you didn’t treat second impact syndrome properly.

Beyond How to Treat Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries can be devastating and carry lifelong consequences. Luckily, you may be able to decrease the risk of long-term TBI impacts when you get neurological care to treat your injuries.

Neurocare of Nevada will help you identify the specific type of TBI you sustained and offer treatment options that work for those with your type of injury. We’re committed to helping people get their lives back on track after their mental and physical health suffers post-TBI.

Schedule an appointment with our team to begin taking advantage of modern, well-researched therapies to treat neurological problems.