We’ve all experienced a bump to the head, and not only does it hurt like heck – really “having our bell rung” can have serious consequences. On Episode Eight of the Healthy Matters podcast, I talked to Dr. Matthew Puderbaugh from our Traumatic Brain Injury – or TBI – Clinic, which was recently recognized as being the first in the world to receive special accreditation for its concussion program.
Dr. Puderbaugh is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at Hennepin Healthcare and a veteran of the United States Air Force. He cares for many patients with TBIs, including professional athletes. To help us better understand these injuries, he shared the CDC’s description of a TBI:
“The CDC defines a TBI is some sort of disturbance of brain function that is due to a bump, jolt or penetrating injury to the brain.”
When I asked if that also describes a concussion, he said that a concussion is indeed a type of traumatic brain injury, that’s often referred to as a mild traumatic brain injury:
“Almost 50% of Americans have sustained a concussive event or a brain injury within their lifetimes – with the most common cause being sports injuries.”
Falls are also to blame for concussions. Dr. Puderbaugh says that they are the most common cause for sending someone to the hospital – especially during the winter months. Our hard, thick skulls are apparently no match for Minnesota ice when it comes to protecting our gelatinous brains.
So, what exactly happens to the brain during a TBI? Dr. Puderbaugh said that there’s two main pathological forces that are going on. One is that when you do strike the head – just like bumping any other part of your body – you’ll get a bruise. A brain bruise.
“The other part is that there’s oftentimes some sort of force that twists or stretches the brain a little bit, and that causes a diffuse injury that often causes us to feel this overwhelming sense of the brain not moving right – not performing the way it wants to.”
According to Dr. Puderbaugh, the most common TBI symptom is headache. Dizziness is the second most common symptom. When assessing patients, he asks them if they’ve lost consciousness, memory, saw stars, or felt dazed.
Most mild traumatic brain injuries and concussions resolve relatively quickly, “but for some people they still have persistent symptoms that can last for months to years afterwards, and it’s hard to predict who might be in that category.”
Getting the right diagnosis and treatment for a brain injury is essential to any type of recovery. Hennepin Healthcare’s TBI team surrounds patients with the right specialists – everyone from therapists to physicians, psychologists and eye specialists – to address every aspect of the injury. Be sure to listen to the podcast to learn more about the consistency of our brains, what to do if you suspect a TBI and how to avoid being sidelined by a concussion.
