BRAIN INJURY

Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI is a serious injury to the head - often resulting in severe and/or permanent damage to the brain.

Every year over 1,000,000 people in the United States sustain some form of brain injury caused by motor vehicle accidents, falls, diving and swimming accidents, amusement park rides, blunt force trauma and criminal acts. Due to the subtle nature of brain injuries, they often go undiagnosed and therefore untreated, especially in emergency rooms.

Under certain circumstances, the damage may eventually be reversed but unfortunately, traumatic brain injuries often results in some form of permanent impairment such as:

1. Paralysis: Paraplegia or Quadraplegia;
2. Loss of voluntary or involuntary motor functions;
3. Loss of reasoning and thinking abilities;
4. Memory loss;
5. Sensory loss such as sight, speech or hearing.

Skull fractures and skull penetration are the obvious causes of traumatic brain injury but brain damage can also result from a "closed head injury". If the brain is bruised due to physical force, blood vessels in the brain can break and cause bleeding around the brain. The brain can also be damaged if it swells and presses against the bones of the skull, or if it deprived of oxygen.