While most people don't have symptoms within two weeks, some people may experience problems for months or even years after a minor head injury. The more severe the brain injury, the more pronounced the long-term effects will be. Memory loss or memory gaps are not uncommon for traumatic brain injury sufferers. As in the previous examples, TBI victims may develop memory problems long after their injury.
In some cases, memory loss may begin weeks or months after a brain injury and continue indefinitely. Long-term memory loss is not usually a problem for TBI victims. In contrast, traumatic injuries often lead to short-term memory problems. This means that when a victim of TBI is exposed to new information, they have difficulty storing it in memory and learning it.
Sometimes, victims also cannot remember the events that occurred in the weeks immediately preceding the injury. A common problem related to memory loss is missing information gaps, as they can lead to false memories. Victims' brains try to fill missing gaps with other events or conversations, causing them to “remember things that didn't really happen”. Addressing short-term memory problems requires TBI victims to maintain structured routines and rely on tools such as calendars, to-do lists, reference cards, memory journals, and even full-time assistants to function.
In addition to the feelings of anger and associated outbursts, TBI victims may find it difficult, if not impossible, to act appropriately in social situations, causing embarrassment to friends and family in some cases. Some examples include hurtful language, callousness, and contempt for social boundaries. Personality changes that occur as a result of traumatic brain injury can disrupt the home and damage close relationships, causing massive stress to victims and their loved ones. Unfortunately, drugs have not been approved to treat these changes and non-pharmacological interventions have not been successful.
The International Association of Brain Injuries (IBIA) reports that those who suffer from traumatic brain injuries often suffer from sensory disorders, including photosensitivity, sometimes simply called light sensitivity. The range is large, but between 20 percent and 50 percent of TBI victims report that sensitivity to light is an ongoing long-term symptom of their injury. Veterans are especially vulnerable to photosensitivity. Among the U.S.
veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and have suffered BITs related to explosions, 77 percent report light sensitivity. Light sensitivity is a serious condition without a good treatment option. Many victims wear sunglasses and doctors can prescribe tinted lenses. When people recover from brain injury, those pathways will return to normal or continue to malfunction.
If they fail to revert to healthier signaling after the trauma of the acute injury subsides, the result is long-term dysfunction of neurovascular coupling and, therefore, long-term symptoms of traumatic brain injury. Growing public awareness of brain injuries and their long-term impact has led more victims to seek help and file personal injury claims. Infants and young children with brain injuries may not be able to communicate headaches, sensory problems, confusion, and similar symptoms. However, many other events, accidents, and situations can cause traumatic brain injury and experience symptoms years later.
Either type of brain injury is traumatic for the person experiencing it, and both can cause the same unpleasant symptoms in the long run. Traumatic brain injury is also the result of penetrating injuries, severe blows to the head with shrapnel or debris, and falls or bodily collisions with objects following an explosion. Other disorders that have been associated with brain injuries that occurred in the past include perceptive-motor disorders, secondary psychiatric disorders such as depression, and conditions such as early-onset Alzheimer's or early-onset Parkinson's disease. However, some research suggests that repeated or severe traumatic brain injuries may increase the risk of degenerative brain diseases.
Recent studies are raising new concerns about the long-term effects of concussions and other undetected brain injuries that can remain dormant and undiscovered for months or even years. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, approximately 60% of people with a moderate traumatic head injury recover completely with minimal persistent symptoms. The link between traumatic brain injury and depression and anxiety has been a hot topic of research for those studying TBIs. Although research is scarce on the relationship between hearing problems and traumatic brain injuries, doctors know that in nearly 60 percent of all cases, TBI led to central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), meaning that the brain cannot properly process sounds.
But this risk cannot be predicted for a person and researchers are still investigating whether, why, and how traumatic brain injuries might be linked to degenerative brain diseases. A traumatic brain injury is the result of some kind of external force, such as an object that hits the head. The medical community further divides the term “acquired brain injury” into the terms “traumatic” and “non-traumatic” acquired brain injuries for clarity. Between 80,000 and 90,000 people who suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) each year develop long-term disabilities related to their TBI.
Cognitive FX is open to seeing anyone who has suffered any type of brain injury that causes lasting symptoms, whether from an accident or traumatic injury, or something like neurosurgery complications or neurotoxicity. . .
