Traumatic Brain Injury

Symptoms and Severity

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when the head receives a blow that disrupts the soft tissue and/or stability of the brain. Whether the result of pressure from a skull fracture or swelling or of significant movement caused by a collision or whiplash, any harm to the brain can generate severe and long-lasting injuries.

The brain is the control center of the body. To protect your long-term health and ensure an acceptable quality of life, you have to identify TBIs before they become life-altering conditions.

Signs of a TBI

Understanding that not all brain injuries result in the same symptoms, you need to be cautious in making any assumptions regarding your health after a major sports-related collision or car accident in which your head receives a significant blow. Concussions, contusions, and other brain injuries can have delayed symptoms. If you have sustained a head injury, watch for these symptoms over the course of the next few weeks and head to a physician for complete diagnostics and immediate treatment.

Symptoms of a TBI can include but are not limited to the following:

Difficulty speaking
Sensitivity to light and sound
Muscle stiffness and instability
Emotional distress and instability
Moods swings and changes
Decrease in cognitive function
Memory loss
Nausea and/or vomiting
Blurred vision
Seizures
Ringing in the ears
Nerve damage
Headaches or migraines
Depression
Lack of concentration
Amnesia
Inability to understand language

Why Early Detection Is Imperative

Often, the best treatment for a TBI is simply to rest, avoid further damage, and allow the body to heal naturally. Symptoms of a TBI can vary greatly and may show up days, weeks, and even months after the initial incident that created the injury. If a TBI is left undetected, it leaves the brain in its weakened state and exposed to further harm. In reviewing the signs/symptoms of a TBI, you are given an understanding of what a significant impact a TBI can have on your personality, physical abilities, and cognitive capacity.

As with any injury, early treatment and detection will help to limit complications and ensure a fast and complete recovery. For the brain, arguably the most important organ in the body, this is certainly the case. Don’t allow your life-altering TBI symptoms to become permanent. Get the treatments and medical expertise you need to recover from your TBI by working with the Dallas physicians at Advantage Healthcare Systems. Call our office at (877) 487-8289.

The Glasgow Coma Scale

In evaluating your overall condition and functional capacity after a TBI, your physician may conduct a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) assessment to determine the severity of your TBI. With a score from 3 to 15 (3 representing a vegetative state and 15 representing a mild brain injury), the GCS will inform physicians as to the extent of your injuries and how best to proceed to improve your condition. The GCS is scored as follows:

Eye Opening Response

Spontaneous; open with blinking at baseline 4 points
To verbal stimuli, command, speech 3 points
To pain only (not applied to face) 2 points
No response 1 point

Verbal Response

Oriented 5 points
Confused conversation, but able to answer questions 4 points
Inappropriate words 3 points
Incomprehensible speech 2 points
No response 1 point

Motor Response

Obeys commands for movement 6 points
Purposeful movement to painful stimulus 5 points
Withdraws in response to pain 4 points
Flexion in response to pain (decorticate posturing) 3 points
Extension response in response to pain (decerebrate posturing) 2 points
No response 1 point

Call Advantage Healthcare Systems for Complete Diagnostics and Treatment for TBIs

Don’t allow an untreated brain injury to affect your cognitive, emotional, and physical state while leaving you susceptible to further harm. Call our office at (877) 487-8289 to begin your recovery from a TBI.