A traumatic brain injury is caused by a sudden blow to the head due to any possible reason. These injuries can be both penetrative like gunshots as well as non-penetrative like being hit in the head with some blunt object.

When making a classification of these types of injuries we can divide them into Mechanical, Thermal, Chemical, Electrical, and even Radiation which can technically lead to brain damage. Whenever this topic is a talking point it is usually referred to the physical, mechanical forces that cause these types of injuries, and these will be the most common types of brain injury.

The severity of these injuries depends upon what caused them in the first place. The severity is a deciding factor for whether or not the person may be able to recover from it. Some people tend to recover within a few weeks or days however people that may be severely injured might as well have permanent brain damage.

To those who haven’t known TBI is a very common thing and according to CDC, we have around 2.5 million TBIs that occur every year in the US alone which is more than 30% of all injury-related deaths, which is highly worrying information. But let’s see what it is and how can it be avoided!

What Causes Traumatic Brain Injury?

As far as the aetiology of the TBI, it is a direct result of external forces that are transferred to the brain tissue. Thanks to high schools physics we know that the amount of damage to the brain is directly related to the size and the mass of the object that is in direct contact with it as well as the speed at which it is traveling toward your head. As we already mentioned there are two types of mechanisms of this injury and they come down to Blunt and Penetrating.

Penetrating injury is self-explanatory and it is the situation where a certain object penetrates the skull. The object that is most likely to do this are bullets that come from different types of guns. We also can’t forget that knives and other penetrating objects can cause these as well.

As far as Blunt traumas go they can be a result of moving injury (both acceleration and deceleration related injury), rotation injury caused by twisting of the brain inside of the skull, compression or deformation injury caused most commonly by change of the shape of a skull.

A Traumatic Brain Injury may be experienced by anyone regardless of who it may be, however, the majority of such victims are normally males. Moreover, older people are more likely to receive Traumatic Brain Injuries due to probable falls that may be caused by losing balance or falling. Though this does not mean that this condition is limited to a certain age considering even children might get these types of injuries from situations like falling off the bed or any other high place. In some cases, the Traumatic Brain Injury may as well be caused by abuse or domestic violence.

According to information we have online TBIs are most commonly obtained in sports, traffic, and the military. Although these can happen anywhere to anyone, it feels like these categories are affected the most, or at least have the highest rate of logged cases.

There are certain types of people associated with certain professions that have high-risk factors and more chances of these types of injuries. These professions may include athletes, military or army personals, cops, construction workers and firefighters etc.

Other than these factors, Traumatic Brain Injuries may also be caused by the following factors.

1. Traumatic brain injuries may be caused by assault or abuse cases.
2. They may be caused by suicide attempts or gunshot wounds.
3. Sports players or other professions that include physical activities may be prone to injuries caused by accidents or mishaps.

How to avoid a TBI

While a Traumatic brain injury may not entirely be preventable considering it happens without any warnings, there are still certain things you can do to avoid it. These include:

1. Take maximum care of yourself in sports and make sure to wear helmets while riding a bike, skating or skiing, playing hockey or any other games that may involve the dangers of getting hit or falling.
2. Traffic is always dangerous and you should always make sure that you have your seatbelt on at all times and are completely sober while driving. DUI’s can seriously cause really bad injuries and TBI is one of them. You should also always pay maximum attention when acting as a pedestrian as well because you may be careful but others are not. Keep “six eyes” open at all times.
3. Make sure that your homes or workplaces are free of tripping hazards. Especially with older people or children around, you need to ensure that your home is fall-proof. This also involves installing window guards and safety gates on stairs.
4. Ensure that your medications do not include components that can cause dizziness or vertigos. Make sure to ask your doctor to review your prescription for medications that may cause such effects. Any drugs that may induce lightheadedness are always coming with a warning not to operate heavy machinery or expose yourself to any other risks. Keep an eye on those warnings and your doctor’s suggestions.
5. Make sure to get your eyesight checked on a timely basis to prevent any injuries that may be caused by falls. Moreover, make sure to exercise and stay active. If you have a problem walking, then use walkers or canes especially for older people to avoid falls.

Conclusion

Traumatic Brain Injuries are mainly caused by a blunt hit to the head that can cause changes to your brain. The brain may experience chemical or physical changes depending upon the required compensation for that particular injury.

This may result in certain physical factors like headaches, sensitivity to light or sound and even psychological issues or speech/vision problems. Mild injuries may not last permanently but with severe injuries, there may be severe consequences and some of those may even cause a brain swelling or expansion.

This swelling can cause the brain damage to further accelerate. TBI treatment needs to be done timely to prevent further damage. While TBIs cannot entirely be avoided, they can be prevented to some extent by being careful. For more info check havenhouseaddictiontreatment.com.