• It can  turn a person into a  mere shadow of his or her former self 
• Damage one section of the brain and the person speaks pure gibberish. 
• Damage to another section of the brain interferes with the ability to recognize familiar faces and 
• At the very least brain damage can seriously compromise quality of life. 
• While brain damage may strike a single individual, in reality it is the family that bears the brunt of its destructive impact. 

• The three basic types of traumatic brain injury are severe, moderate and mild.
• Leading causes of TBI are motor vehicle accidents, acts of violence, falls, sports and recreational injuries, lightning strikes, electric shocks, and blows to the head. 
• TBI can occur without any outward physical evidence of injury or trauma. Examples include, whiplash, and shaken babies.

• Such injuries crush, rip and shear delicate brain tissue. 
• This is the most life threatening, and the most intractable type of brain injury. 
• Typically, heroic measures are required in treatment of such injuries. 
• Frequently, severe head trauma results in an open head injury, one in which the skull has been crushed or seriously fractured. 
• Treatment of open head injuries usually require prolonged hospitalization and extensive rehabilitation. 
• Typically, rehabilitation is incomplete and for most patients there is no return to pre-injury status. 
• Closed head injuries can also result in severe brain injury. 
• For additional information see our Coma page.

• Such injuries usually result from a non-penetrating blow to the head, and/or a violent shaking of the head. 
• As luck would have it many individuals sustain such head injuries without any apparent consequences. 
• However, for many others, such injuries result in lifelong disabling impairments. 

• Typically, it is followed by a alteration in consciousness. 
• That is, the person is knocked out, loses consciousness, or remains conscious, but appears dazed, witless, disoriented. 
• The term concussion is often used interchangeably with the terms:  head injury, mild brain injury, head dinged, or bell rung. It is important to note that a blow to the head is not required for brain damage to occur. 
• The irony of mild brain injuries is that often times, such injuries do not even require a hospital stay, yet they result in changes so profound that lives are forever changed. 
• The term mild brain injury belies the true nature of the resultant impairments. 
• For additional information see our Concussion page.

       Head Injury vs Brain Injury.  The terms head injury, concussion, traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury are often used interchangeably. 

• However, most people associate the term "head injury" with some type of external physical damage to the head. 
• Many such head injuries are superficial, and amount to nothing more than a temporary, although bothersome, injury and associated discomfort. 
• Closed head injuries can also result in severe brain injury. 

• The most severe types of  brain injury can cause extensive functional limitations such as coma, paralysis, and severely limited mental functioning. 
• Moderate brain injuries are characterized by corresponding degrees of functional limitations primarily in the form of diminished mental skills. 
• Memory mood and fatigue are common complaints of brain injury patients. 
• Intellectual dullness and mental rigidity are obvious signs of brain injury. 
• Personality changes are common, and rapid mood swings alternate with waxing and waning energy levels. 
• Taken individually, such impairments might not amount to much.
•  However, such impairments usually appear in groups or clusters.
• In many cases the impairments are widespread and disrupt many brain systems. 
• The overall effect can be profoundly disabling.

• The brain is somewhat mobile within the spiny interior of the skull.
• Under normal circumstances the delicate brain is protected from contact with the spiny contours of the skull. 
• This protective barrier is known as cerebrospinal fluid. 
• It surrounds the brain, and under normal circumstances, cushions the brain from contact with its hard, spiny shell. 
• However, when the head is subjected to violent forces, such as those exerted in: automobile accidents;  violent shaking or whiplash; falls; the brain may sustain permanent damage. 
• Such damage results from the delicate brain being forcibly rotated and battered within the spiny skull, also known as, the brain vault.
• During such episodes brain tissue is ripped, torn, stretched, battered and bruised. 
• Such battering is followed by bleeding, swelling and bruising of brain tissue. 
• Sometimes the brain can recover from such insults without any apparent consequences. 
• In other cases the resultant difficulties can last a lifetime. 
• Also see 2nd Impact Syndrome

• They are known as functional impairments because they interfere with the ability to perform basic functions such as walking and talking, thinking and knowing remembering and understanding. 
• For example, memory, mood and fatigue top the list of the many on-going impairments that are caused by brain damage. 
• Even a minor brain injury can have substantial, lifelong consequences.   See TBI Checklist