Concussion patients tend to have distinct symptoms that validate they are concussed. Symptoms may vary from person to person, based on how serious the injury was and how much impact the incident had on the cranial region. Although symptoms differ from person to person, some of the most common signs of a concussion are balance issues, nausea, dizziness, or sometimes blurred vision. These symptoms are easy to recognize, because, as Elaine Landau reveals in her Head and Brain Injuries book, “The effects of any type of brain damage are usually worst immediately following an injury” (Landau 24). Furthermore, because all concussion patients experience symptoms differently, doctors often determine if the injury was an open or closed head injury first, and then divide symptoms into four categories to better assess and target patients ‘ specific needs.
As outlined in Landau’s work, the two major categories of traumatic brain injuries are penetrating, or open, head injury (OHI) and closed head injury (CHI) (Landau 21). Open, or penetrating, head injuries can cause more trauma to the brain than closed head injuries. Open head injuries are also known as “penetrating head injuries”, because open head injuries involve something penetrating the skull and tearing its way into the brain, such as a gunshot wound. Landau gives a further, more visual description of this, by explaining how the bullet specifically ruptures the skull and enters the brain. Landau states that, after being shot in the cranium, “The bullet tears open the scalp, cracks the skull, and scrapes apart the soft tissue as it rips into the brain. Nerve fibers within the damaged area are stretched and torn, and numerous nerve cells are destroyed” (Landau 21).
Although a gunshot wou. .eep too much or too little. Doctors stress the importance of regulating sleep patterns, because “not sleeping well can increase or worsen depression, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, and one’s sense of well-being” (http://www.msktc.org/tbi/factsheets/Sleep-And-Traumatic-Brain-Injury).
Inadequate hours of sleep can also cause patients to develop sleep disorders, such as insomnia (difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep) or extreme drowsiness. These are caused by a chemical and physical change in the brain and an individual’s injury affecting the chemicals in their body that help them sleep. As a result, doctors often prescribe certain medications to help regulate sleep patterns (Citing above). The side effects of sleep disorders are what make this dangerous, and it is essential that patients take these necessary precautions to prevent future disorders from forming.
