Brain Injury, Types and Causes

You may have come across various TLA’s, three letter abbreviations, relating to brain injury. The two most common are ABI, Acquired Brain Injury and TBI,
Traumatic Brain Injury. Acquired brain injury is exactly as is sounds, an injury which has occurred sometime since you were born, which can be caused by an accident like a fall or car crash, or by disease like cancer or perhaps a stroke. Traumatic brain injury is used to describe an accident when the head suffers a severe blow and the brain is damaged.

When asked to describe the characteristics of the brain, a common answer is a large walnut divided in two with an interconnecting bridge in the middle. This
helps people remember that the right side of the brain controls the left side of our bodies and vice versa. Also that your language skills are contained in one the side, the left, whereas spatial awareness is controlled by the right.

I always remember watching a TV show in the mid nineties which featured a man who damaged and indeed lost part of his brain in a car crash. The part he lost was involved with spatial awareness. This meant he could not touch the tip of each finger with the tip of his thumb. After months of practice and huge concentration and will power, he managed to use another part of his brain to allow him to complete this task but only when he was looking at his hand. If he put his hand behind his back nothing would happen, he had to see what he was trying to do and then he could do it. Scientists were monitoring his brain throughout and discovered that he was managing to use a completely unrelated part of his brain to accomplish this. A real breakthrough and an example of what is possible, just don’t give up hope.

Although the initial injury is caused by some type of external force it can be the complications which follow that cause the most damage. These include a lack of oxygen and/or an increase in pressure due to swelling in the brain. This amongst all the other reasons is why medical aid must be sought as soon as possible. Of the initial type there are considered to be three types.

A closed head injury is one where no open wound is visible. A car stops suddenly and your head is quickly rocked backwards and forwards. This can tear some of the nerve fibres that make up your brain.

An open head injury is where your head doesn’t get the chance to rock backwards and forwards because something hard, heavy and possibly sharp is in the way, causing the skull to be opened and the brain exposed to the elements.

A variation on the open head injury is when surrounded by hard, heavy and sharp objects causing the skull to be crushed. A pedestrian run over by a car could easily fall into this category.

Whatever the type of injury, speed of treatment and ongoing support are vital to recovery and as with so much in modern life this can come down to money.
No innocent victim should ever be afraid of putting forward their case for compensation and although in some well documented cases justice can take a
while, it is eventually achieved. If this describes you or someone you are caring for, good luck always and never stop believing.