Concussions are very common in both adults and children, especially those that take part in sporting activities like football and boxing. In fact, players might continue playing without realizing that they have a brain injury that requires medical attention.
Truth be told, a number of complications might occur immediately or soon after a traumatic brain injury. According to several experts, some cases of severe brain injuries increase the patient’s risk of complications in the future, which might include recurring symptoms and a great number of other brain related complications.
Some complications that arise as a result of recurring brain injuries include:
Coma
Sadly, some concussion patients end up in a coma due to the severity of the symptoms from the injury. Basically, a person who is in a coma is unconscious and unaware of his or her surroundings. This kind of condition might have serious effects on a patient’s brain functionality.
Luckily, after receiving proper medical care for a few weeks, the patient may emerge from being in a coma to being in a vegetative state.
Fluid buildup
People with concussions tend to have swellings on the head and other body parts. Such swellings are as a result of cerebrospinal fluid building up in the brain. The pressure from this fluid is what causes swelling of the brain.
Infections
A traumatic brain injury might cause the skull to fracture and damage the protective tissue surrounding the brain. With such fractures, it is easier for the bacteria to enter the brain and cause serious infections.
If the situation worsens, some serious infections like meningitis could spread to the nervous system if left untreated.
Damaged blood vessels
The brain is made up of small and large blood vessels. Therefore, an impact on the brain might damage these blood vessels resulting in bleeding in the brain, blood clots and/or stroke.
Damaged nerves
Fractures to the base of the skull can damage cranial nerves in the brain. When the cranial nerves are damaged, paralysis of facial muscles, loss of vision, difficulty swallowing, loss of facial sensation and double vision may occur.
Communication issues
Communication problems are normally associated with brain injuries. Examples of cognitive communication problems that may arise include difficulty speaking or writing, trouble understanding speech, inability to organize thoughts and ideas and trouble following conversations.
On the other hand, some social communication problems that might arise include difficulty expressing emotions, trouble deciphering nonverbal cues, trouble taking turns, and inability to start or stop a conversation among other issues.
Serious diseases
Recurring brain injuries are said to damage the brain cells. This leads to gradual loss of brain functionand also causes serious diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and dementia pugilistica.
- Alzheimer’s disease – This is a disease that affects the brain and primarily causes the gradual loss of memory and other intellectual skills.
- Parkinson’s disease – This is a progressive condition that causes body movement problems with rigidity, tremors and slow movementsbeing the most common.
- Dementia pugilistica — This disease is most often associated with multiple blows to the head. Most patients who have this condition are/were professional boxers. Sadly, this condition also causes symptoms of dementia and body movement problems
Randall Fischer is a brain injury specialist in a recognized institution. He recovered from a traumatic brain injury 2 years ago. For more on the causes, symptoms and treatment of TBI.
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