Brain injury is often the cause of head injuries and substance overdose. There are certain types of brain injuries that can leave you paralyzed for life, although the most experienced head injury is a concussion. The worst brain damage can leave a person in a coma for years on end. Since the brain is continually developing until the age of 20-25, it is important that you avoid any type of head injury to prevent traumatic brain injury (brain injury caused by violent blow to the skull, generally through accidents).
Brain Injury Symptoms
There are certain signs of brain injury that will help you understand what your condition might be. Take a look at the most prominent and common symptoms of brain damage.
- A persistent (mild or severe) headache.
- Inability to speak, understand, concentrate, and recognise.
- Unusual behaviour – laughing for no reason, talking to one’s self.
- Coma, fainting and blackouts are signs of brain damage.
- Abnormal posturing – stiff muscles
- Mood swings – apathy, loneliness, anger
- Constant dilated pupils, dark eyes like a racoon
- Constant vomiting and nauseated feeling
- Unable to use one’s sense of smell, touch, speech, and vision
Causes of Brain Injury
The different causes of brain damage are as follows:-
- Brain haemorrhage
- Brain tumor
- Traumatic brain injury
- Brain problem due to poisoning, infection due to drugs
- Brain damage because of liver failure.
- Increased pressure in the brain, whatever be the reason
- Hypoglycemic encephalopathy
- Brain herniation
Diagnosis and Tests
There are relevant diagnosis and treatments which help facilitate the treatment of brain injury.
- Body Sugar Content – Tests for diabetes, blood glucose.
- ADHD Test
- Drug Screening Test – Urine tests and blood tests.
- MRI or CT scan
- Cerebral Angiography
Acquired Brain Injury
Acquired brain injury are those brain injuries that happen after birth. These do not include conditions that one is born with.
Types of Acquired Brain Injury
There are two major types of brain injury. Based on these types, the doctor will diagnose your brain condition.
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): The cause of traumatic brain injury is through external forces, such as head injury through an accident or infections, tumors etc.
- Non Traumatic Brain Injury (NTBI): The cause of this brain injury is internal – brain hemorrhage, stroke, meningitis etc.
Abnormal posturing is an indicator of the extent of damage that is caused to the brain. Medical professionals use abnormal posturing to measure the extent of a coma and they use different standards for adults and infants.
Types of Abnormal Posture
- Decorticate Posturing: Decorticate Posture or Decorticate Rigidity is a medical condition indicating severe brain injury. Patients suffering from such posturing often have their arms flexed or bent inwards close to the chest, the fists remain clenched, the legs remain extended and the feet turned inwards. This posturing type points to damages in many brain areas. This posturing may also indicate damages to the midbrain.
- Decerebrate Posturing: Decerebrate Posture or Decerebrate Rigidity is the result of the extension of the upper part of the body due to internal brain damage. In this position, the patient’s head arches back while the arms remain stretched out beside the body. The legs also remain straight. The whole body becomes stiff while the teeth remain clenched.
What To Do If You Experience Any Symptoms
1. Immediate Professional Care
Firstly, if an individual is suffering from the symptoms of brain damage then that person needs to be shifted right away to the hospital for treatment purposes. Also, for persons suffering from the disease, emergency treatment is important. The individuals who suffer from the condition are more likely to get hospitalized and placed in intensive care units.
2. Get A Check Done On The Family
The health care professionals diagnose the condition, check whether other family members have a history of the condition, do a detailed physical examination as and when required. This includes an examination of the central nervous system.
3. Tell The Doctor All Symptoms And Past Medical Treatment
Lastly, prior to treating the condition the health care professionals need to know about the medical history of their patients pertaining to the disorder. It is important for the patients to allow the doctors to understand the date when the symptoms started appearing.
The damage can be due to a number of reasons like a head injury, excessive drug use or infection in the brain. If the physician knows about the other symptoms that have occurred prior to the injury then it is easier for the doctor to treat the patient.
Also Read: Symptoms of Sepsis
Steps to Prevent Brain Damage
The brain is an important part of the human body. It is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep the brain active and healthy.
1. No Drugs
Firstly, refraining from taking drugs of any type greatly reduces the possibility of brain infection or brain damage.
2. Eat Healthy And Exercise Regularly
Eating healthy and exercising from time to time, help keep the body and the mind fit, active, and agile. This helps in blood circulation.
3. Drink Lots Of Water
As liver failure is sometimes associated with brain damage, keeping it safe and healthy becomes absolutely important. Drinking plenty of water helps keep the human body healthy.
4. Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
Fruits and green vegetables offer individuals the much required nourishment to grow. To stay healthy, included them in your diet to increase proper oxygen flow to the brain.
5. Use Your Helmet
Lastly, traumatic brain damage can be caused if there is a head injury. It is important to stay safe and avoid head injuries as these can lead to decorticate posturing and other brain injury types. While traveling on roads, individuals need to adopt necessary safety measures like helmets which help to keep the head safe, secure.
Brain Injury and Head Injury Treatment
Treating any type of brain injury requires a thorough understanding of the condition. In this context, it is relevant to say that there are many injury types and the physicians require to diagnose the cause prior to starting the medication.
Bleeding in the brain can be fatal, leading to death and hence it becomes imperative on the part of the patient’s side to consult a registered medical practitioner.
Also Read: Body Posture – The Role It Plays In Your Life
Important Points To Remember
- Brain tumor or brain haemorrhage can occur but, they can be cured if the patient is taken to the hospital in time.
- The chances of survival in a stroke are quite slim. However, there are modern hospitals, clinics and innovative treatment techniques which make diagnosis, treatment and subsequent cure of the disease very simple.
- Lastly, drug overdose can leave the brain impaired. It is imperative on the part of the patients or their guardians to seek the expert medical advice of professional doctors to cater to the needs, requirements of individuals suffering from the ailment. Timely treatment can help to keep the patient comfortable.