The long-term effects of traumatic brain injury

You were driving home after a visit with friends when your life changed forever. Without warning, another driver’s vehicle crossed the center line and crashed head-on into your vehicle. The other driver walked away with minor injuries. However, you sustained a traumatic brain injury and needed to be rushed to the hospital.

This serious injury will drastically affect your future and your lifestyle, and you must confront this new reality. You may have to relearn how to talk, have difficulty walking and become sensitive to light. Such effects may lead to your inability to work for weeks, months or even permanently.

Seizures and memory loss

Headaches, nausea, fatigue and dizziness are among the short-term effects from a traumatic brain injury. These symptoms may last for days or even weeks. With proper treatment that may include rest, medications and even surgery, you may recover.

However, many long-term complications exist for sufferers of traumatic brain injury. The list includes:

• Seizures: Victims may suffer from recurring seizures also known as post-traumatic epilepsy. They may surface during the early stages of the injury or even years later.
• Frequent headaches: This may persist for months or perhaps the rest of your life.
• Vertigo: That initial dizziness may never go away, leading to vertigo. Balancing becomes difficult, too. This condition may be temporary, but not always.
• Change in personality: A sudden shift in behavior from a mild-mannered person to a wicked one, sometimes, happens. Irritability and mood swings that include crying, laughter and anger may surface. So may depression and anxiety.
• Memory loss: Short-term memory loss is not uncommon after a traumatic brain injury.
• Difficulty in verbal communication: Words on the tip of your tongue do not immediately come to mind. Such struggles are not uncommon. Sometimes, the wrong words will even come tumbling from your mouth.

A lifetime of struggles possibly awaits anyone who has suffered from traumatic brain injury. It represents one of the most serious injuries. In certain cases, such struggles may be overcome. However, it is likely a long road to recovery.