Name
HLTH 103
CONCUSSIONS & HEAD INJURIES
HEAD INJURY
• Injury to the scalp, skull, or brain
• Precisely defined as “ any head injury that does not damage the skull or brain”
• Includes the following:
• Cuts
• Abrasions
• Contusions
• Skull fractures
• Hemorrhaging
• Concussions
• TBI
SUPERFICIAL HEAD INJURIES
• Children under 5 and adults over 85 at highest risk
• Tend to be less serious
• Cuts, lacerations, abrasions, contusions
• Happen in a range of activities
• Sports
• Workplace accidents
• Day to day life
• Shouldn’t be treated with a lesser degree of care
• Can still lead to complications
• excessive blood loss
• infection
SUPERFICIAL INJURIES: WHEN TO SEEK HELP
• Wound does not stop bleeding
• Visible and excessive deformity present
• Wound begins to smell or becomes discolored
• Wound emits fluid discharge (sign of infection)
• Any burning, tingling, or unusual sensation on or around wound site
• Any neurological symptoms (dizziness, fatigue, tingling in arms fingers or feet, blurred vision etc)
• usually an indicator of a more serious injury
• All head injuries have potentially dangerous implications and should be treated with the appropriate level of care and caution
SUPERFICIAL HEAD INJURIES: TREATMENT
• Clean and disinfect any open wounds that may be present
• If possible stop bleeding before bandaging (head wounds have a tendency to bleed a lot, it may take longer than expected)
• Check bandages regularly, if bleeding resumes or cannot be stopped seek medical help
• Pain medication as needed
• Stitches for deeper wounds
• Clotting agents
PREVENTION
• Protective equipment during everyday tasks and activities
• Helmets during cycling, horse riding, and sports
• Seat belts and airbags when driving
• Obeying warning signs and labels
• Common sense
• Child proofing the home and not leaving children unobserved
CONCUSSIONS & TBI • TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)- occurs when an external force traumatically
injures the brain
• Can be a result of a direct blow to the head or whiplash from a blow to another part of the body
• Most common causes are violence, construction, transportation accidents, and sports
• Estimated that between 1.6 and 3.8 TBI’s per year are due to sports and recreation
• Called the “signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan”
TBI SYMPTOMS
• Dizziness
• Confusion
• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• CSF/Bloody discharge from ears and/or nose
• Uneven pupil size
• Tingling/numbness in extremities
• Blurred vision
• Symptoms will vary depending on the part of the brain that has been injured
CONCUSSIONS
• Concussions are a type of TBI and the most well known
• Occur when the brain hits the inside of the skull at high speed
• Same type of symptoms as TBI
• Individuals also frequently experience changes in mood as well as post- traumatic amnesia
• Experiencing one concussion makes an individual more susceptive to another
• Diagnosed by presence of symptoms in conjunction with neural imaging in some cases
• If the mechanism of injury is unknown it can be difficult to diagnose due to it sharing symptoms with other injuries and disorders
COMPLICATIONS • Loss of hearing, vision, and smell
• Memory loss
• Coma
• Dementia (later in life, usually after multiple injuries)
• Brain hemorrhaging
• Can result in a buildup of pressure in the skull causing significantly more damage than the original injury itself
TREATMENT
• Control and monitoring of intercranial pressure
• Neural imaging to rule out hemorrhaging and CSF buildup
• Bed rest
• Limited exposure to light and loud noise
• Physical/occupational therapy as needed in severe cases
• It is important to identify and treat TBI as soon as possible in order to prevent worsening of the situation and further injury
PREVENTION
• Use of safety equipment in sports, everyday life, and the workplace
• Helmets in sports, hard hats in construction, seatbelts when driving
• Education about mechanisms of injury
• Axial loading
• Head up vs head down tackling
• Education about repeated injuries and their consequences and increase in likelihood
REFERENCES • Bray, R. M., Pemberton, M. R., Lane, M. E., Hourani, L. L., Mattiko, M. J., & Babeu, L. A.
(2010). Substance Use and Mental Health Trends Among U.S. Military Active Duty Personnel: Key Findings From the 2008 DoD Health Behavior Survey. Military Medicine, 175(6), 390-399.
• Eisen, S. V., Schultz, M. R., Vogt, D., Glickman, M. E., Elwy, A. R., Drainoni, M., & … Martin, J. (2012). Mental and Physical Health Status and Alcohol and Drug Use Following Return From Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. American Journal of Public Health, 102(S1), S66-S73.
• Mustillo, S. A., Kysar-Moon, A., Douglas, S. R., Hargraves, R., MacDermid Wadsworth, S., Fraine, M., & Frazer, N. L. (2015). Overview of Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Alcohol Misuse Among Active Duty Service Members Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan, Self-Report and Diagnosis. Military Medicine, 180(4), 419- 427. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00335.
Concussions & Head Injuries
Head Injury
Superficial Head Injuries
Superficial Injuries: When to seek help
Superficial Head Injuries: treatment
Prevention
Concussions & TBI
TBI Symptoms
Concussions
Complications
Treatment
Prevention (2)
References
Interested in getting help with this assignment?
Get a professional writing team to work on your assignment!
Order Now
Recent posts
For this final assignment, you will prepare a brief paper detailing the steps undertaken to complete a presentation that disseminates information you assemble
Please choose to answer only one of the 2 following questions. Option 1: In your opinion and based on scientific, peer-reviewed published evidence, does child
At the beginning of the previous academic year, the institution announced it would drop football at the conclusion of the season. The announcement created pub
you will review current research in Personality and provide a critical evaluation of that personality research through an annotated bibliography. An annotated
In Module 5, we considered the third in our three-part series on research design. Specifically, the focus was on the longitudinal studies, in which the resear
Need help with a similar or different Task?
We have the best writers to help you. Hire Writer Now
