Diagnosing and treating a traumatic brain injury can be difficult since some of the symptoms can mirror other ailments. The best way to ensure you are getting a proper diagnosis is to go in and make sure you are checked out thoroughly by a doctor. They will want to evaluate your symptoms, the cause of your injury, and your neurological status, and from there, they will decide how to treat you.
Diagnosing a Traumatic Brain Injury
Since doctors have been able to link traumatic brain injuries to incidences of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, it is important to make sure any injury to the brain is properly diagnosed. You should go in after any type of head trauma and let a doctor evaluate how your body is functioning. They will want to know the cause of your injury, what immediately preceded the injury and how you reacted immediately after you got hurt, and ask some questions that will let them see how your memory, vision, balance, reflexes, and other senses are doing since the injury occurred. If the physician believes your injury to be severe enough, they may require you to get a scan of your brain to determine if there is any swelling to be concerned with.
Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries
The most common cause of a brain injury is by falling. This can be due to just losing your balance, aging, or even an infection that causes your body to struggle with balance, but either way, this is commonly seen by doctors and emergency personnel across the country. Other causes include accidents where one was in a vehicle, bullet wounds that penetrated the skull, or even sports injuries.
Treating Traumatic Brain Injuries
The way a doctor will treat a traumatic brain injury really depends on the severity of the injury itself. The worse the injury started off as the more treatment may be required. Most of the time, a traumatic brain injury will only require observation to make sure the injured person is recovering properly, and this can either be in a hospital or at home, depending on how severe the injury and symptoms are. Sometimes, patients will need some outpatient treatment after the initial observation period to regain some functionality lost from the brain injury.