When suffering from a blow to the head, it is important to keep an eye out for brain trauma as well. In many cases, the two go hand in hand.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in specific tend to have a big impact on the health of a victim’s brain. It can manifest in numerous ways, which victims of head injuries and their loved ones should keep an eye out for.
Physical signs of traumatic brain injury
Medline Plus discusses the ways to identify traumatic brain injuries in individuals. The way a brain injury manifests depends on a number of different factors, ranging from the overall health of the victim to the placement of the injury. However, they do share some common traits.
For one, most TBI sufferers will have both physical and mental effects. Physically speaking, a victim will likely experience a headache that increases in strength and pain over time rather than lessening. Tinnitus – or a persistent ringing in the ears – often accompanies it.
Some may experience changes in physical sensations, too. For example, they could have black spots in their vision. Their sense of smell and taste may also change.
Potential mental effects
As far as mental effects go, the most common include an inability to emotionally cope with a situation leading to tantrums or breakdowns. In addition, many suffer from memory loss. They may struggle to remember what they were doing at the time of the incident, or who they are with.
Of course, a victim may also simply black out or even fall into a coma. This is why medical help should get called to the scene immediately after any head injury regardless of how serious it seems at the time.
