By
Medical Care Review | Friday,
August 12,
2022
There's a lifetime risk of developing those problems with thinking, movement, and emotions. And those may not resolve if you have taken many hits to the head (as from sports).
Fremont, CA: Your head is very well protected from most injuries. It sits in a hard, bony skull. In addition, membranes and fluid offer extra cushioning. Yet with all this natural protection, you still suffer injuries, and damage can impact everything you do thinking to moving. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any blow to the head that's hard enough to affect the brain.
A violent impact to the head can rattle your brain around in your skull. Your outcome could be bruises, rupture of blood vessels, or damage to nerves in the brain. A heavy blow that does not result in internal bleeding or a hole in your skull may be termed a closed head injury. An open head injury happens when an object penetrates the skull and enters your brain.
Concussion
A concussion is a blow to the body or head that causes your brain to be shaken back and forth within your skull. It can result from any significant blow, such as a tackle in football or a car accident. Although this is technically a mild head trauma, it can result in permanent damage if you do not rest for long enough after its occurrence.
Just as your ankle needs rest after a sprain, your brain needs rest following a concussion. Sleep a lot. Gradually return to school and work when you are feeling better. Avoid the playing field until your doctor clears you. If you get a second concussion before your first is fully healed, it will slow your recovery and increase the chances that the damage may be permanent.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
This condition is most likely to happen to football players, boxers, etc. when repeated blows hit the head. Such killing of brain cells does not result from a single concussion. The symptoms often make their appearance years after being injured. The initial problems that arise are limited to disorders and impulse control in mood and behavior. Those other symptoms like loss of memory and lack of ability to make rational decisions, dementia follow. Doctors can't diagnose until after death; they can look at your brain. There is no treatment for the disease itself but only for its symptoms.
Skull Fractures
Your skull is fairly well-built. But if it receives a hard enough jolt, it can shatter. That is called a cracked skull. When the pointed edges of a cracked skull start digging into your brain, they can bruise the sensitive tissues and make it bleed. Be aware of clear fluid draining from your brain or blood from your nose or ears.
