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Questions about the brain, brain injury, and rehabilitation may be submitted for inclusion in this growing list of questions and answers. Submit questions to BrainSource by clicking here. 1. What happens if I use drugs or alcohol and I have had a brain injury about six years ago? Answer: Any substance that interferes with natural brain chemistry can have very harmful effects, even leading to psychosis or seizures. Part of what constitutes brain injury is damage to chemical neurotransmitter production and pathways. Only a physician should prescribe medicines that can help provide the appropriate balance of neurotransmitter chemicals. Street—or recreational—drugs have unpredictable and usually very devastating effects on an already damaged brain chemistry. Don't use them. They will most likely make effects of brain damage worse. 2. Why do I have so many headaches when I never had headaches before my head injury? Answer: Headaches can occur because of many different problems. Headache is one of the most common complaints following head injury. Usually, a headache is not coming from inside the brain. Usually, but not always, it is due to neck or shoulder injury, to jaw joint problems, general muscle tension, or to the sensory changes from severe cuts on the scalp. Headaches can be due to blood vessel changes within or outside the brain, in either case caused by head trauma. Headache is a complex symptom that should be brought to the attention of a physician. The best treatment for headache is to first get a thorough understanding of the cause then prevent the onset. Relaxation, neck and shoulder exercises, reduction of stress, maintenance of good posture, even a balanced diet with avoidance of certain foods that can trigger migraine should be considered. Headache can be a sign of a very serious problem or it can be a benign annoyance. Present your symptoms and history to a doctor, probably a neurologist, and follow his or her advise in preventing headaches from occurring. 3. I had a head injury a year ago. I find myself dropping things now, very unexpectedly, like a full glass of water or my pen when I am writing a letter. What's wrong? Answer: If your head injury was caused by trauma, it is likely that some injury was sustained to sensory and motor pathways. Holding a glass of water involves a constant supply of sensory information to the brain about the weight of the glass, the texture of it, and the level of grip being maintained by your muscles. In reverse, the brain sends constant signals to the muscles of the arm and hand that is holding the object, telling how much grip to sustain and where to carry the arm to achieve balance. This feedback loop of sensory and motor information can experience a glitch if a pathway is injured and a neuron or two fails to fire in a timely fashion. You might find that you will have to include your eyes to help avoid these situations. By looking at the glass you are carrying, your brain is adding another source of input that will be used to tell the hand what to do. You might also get in the habit of using both hands to carry something, if possible. As far as dropping your pen, the same explanation applies. Resting from writing frequently might help avoid dropping the pen. 4. Do we really use only 20 percent of our brain? Answer: It is reported that Einstein once said that we use only about 10 percent of our brain potential. We are likely using all the brain cells we have but the theory is that by constantly learning, getting involved in creative activities, keeping an open mind for new ideas, and exercising our brains we can increase the interconnections among the brain cells, thus greatly increasing our brain potentials. Even with brain damage, the healthy cells that remain can be enriched in terms of their interconnections. It is entirely possible to increase brain use throughout the life-span, whether or not brain injury has been sustained. 5. My doctor believes my symptoms following a mild concussion are due to anxiety and stress. EEG and CT scans are normal. I have never had problems with anxiety before and I think my problems are really due to a concussion. Is this normal? Answer: If symptoms consist of fatigue, frustration, irritability, inconsistency with memory and concentration, maybe some periods of depression, perhaps headaches, eyes getting tired easily, and sometimes tremors and shaking, these are typically reported by people who have experienced mild trauma to the head. Symptoms should improve but it may take several months. If symptoms persist, a neurologist should be consulted to diagnose potentially treatable problems. It is entirely normal for EEG, CT, MRI, and neurological examinations to be normal despite these symptoms following a mild brain concussion. 6. Two years ago I fell from a roof and received a head injury. Since then I sweat on one side of my body, even though I am not really hot. Does this mean anything? Answer: Sometimes, a traumatic brain injury can affect the autonomic nervous system which controls homeostasis (biological balance in temperature, heart rate, thirst, etc.). If symptoms affect only one side of the body this suggests injury to nerves in one side of the brain. You should see a neurologist about this. While there might not be much that can be done about this symptom specifically, there might be other symptoms that accompany this symptom that your neurologist should know about. 7. My daughter, age 20, had a severe anoxic brain injury two years ago. She cannot walk, talk, or move her legs and arms. She has cortical blindness and is on a feeding tube. She always smiles when I come into her room to visit. Is it possible she can improve more? Answer: This is an agonizing question asked by many, many families. There are numerous factors that determine how much the brain has been damaged and what amount of recovery can be expected. The "rule of thumb" in neurology is that most recovery will occur after about one to two years. Dead brain cells do not rejuvenate. Damaged brain cells might recover enough to be functional again. Unfortunately, anoxia causes cells to die and the cells that don't die must learn to take over functions. If the number of dead brain cells is great, there simply cannot be enough other cells to take over. On the positive side, there is always the potential for continuing brain recovery, indefinitely. However, after one to two years, recovery will be very slow and limited. Consult a brain injury specialist about techniques of stimulation that might help improve your daughter's functioning. Send your specific question for consideration for this
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Copyright ©1999, 2000, 2001 Dennis P.
Swiercinsky, Ph.D. |
