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By USPHS CAPT Tricia Booker
Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence
Having your bell rung. Getting knocked out. Seeing stars.
You might use one of those terms to describe a hard hit to your head. But your doctor might call it something else: a possible traumatic brain injury.
TBI is the disruption (often temporary) of normal brain function caused by a jolt or blow to the head, and the military population is especially susceptible. Nearly 459,000 service members worldwide were diagnosed with a first-time TBI from 2000 through the first quarter of 2022, according to the Department of Defense. Concussion—also known as mild TBI—accounts for over 80% of these, making it by far the most common type of active-duty TBI.
But a diagnosis requires a medical exam. With a population that has volunteered to put their lives on the line to protect and defend, it may be tempting to prioritize the mission over medicine, downplaying or ignoring any symptoms. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Capt. William Greeson, who was treated for brain injury at the end of a long military career, says this attitude is especially true for what he calls “military alphas.”
“[Their attitude is] ‘I’m going to go out front, I’m going to lead, I’m going to get it done, and we'll talk about this later,’ ” he said. “And then later never comes.”
At the Military Health System’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, we believe later should come sooner. With that in mind, let’s clear up some myths about the most common type of TBI. Can you separate fact from fiction in the following statements?
Concussions only happen on the battlefield.
False. About 8% of active-duty concussions are from battle injuries, and only 20% happen during deployment. The rest are sustained while doing things like playing contact sports, participating in military training, or crashing a vehicle.
You don’t have to get “knocked out” to have a concussion.
True. Concussions temporarily change how the brain works. This can be a brief loss of consciousness. More often, consciousness is altered, such as, being dazed or seeing stars, or unaffected.
You can have a concussion even without a blow to the head.
True. A concussion may be caused by a sudden increase or decrease in speed, even if the head doesn’t strike anything. For example, the external forces present in cases of whiplash or blast injury may be strong enough to shake the brain, causing it to hit the skull and leading to potential damage.
If you don’t have a headache, you’re fine.
False. A headache is the most common symptom of concussion, but it’s just one of many. Concussion symptoms can be physical, cognitive, or emotional, causing a wide variety of issues such as irritability, fatigue, balance difficulties, sleep disturbance, dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, and concentration or memory difficulties. Some symptoms are warrant a trip to your local emergency department. These include:
• Worsening headache
• Slurred speech or difficulty speaking
• Unsteadiness on feet
• Seizures
• Double or blurred vision
• Weakness or numbness anywhere in your body
• Decreasing levels of alertness
• Disorientation (not knowing where you are, difficulty recognizing people or places)
• Any unusual behavior (such as increased aggression, anger, irritability, or crying)
• Repeated vomiting
• Feeling that something “just isn’t right”
Symptoms of a concussion appear immediately after the injury.
False. Concussion symptoms can start immediately after the injury—or gradually over the next 48 hours. The good news is that they often resolve within days or weeks.
Most people fully recover from a concussion, particularly if it’s their first. Service members can usually return to full duty in 2–4 weeks.
However, the time it takes to heal depends on the individual, the nature of the injury, any history of concussions or migraines, and associated conditions such post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorder.
You should seek medical care and follow your doctor’s progressive return to activity guidance because a concussion can impact memory, concentration, coordination, reaction time, and other areas—that may affect job performance or unit readiness and safety. This is also why you must be medically cleared before picking up that basketball or your car keys; otherwise, symptoms like dizziness, balance problems, and fatigue can put you at risk of re-injury.
Visit https://rly.pt/TBICoE for more information about all types of TBI, as well as provider resources and support for service members, veterans, families, and caregivers.
Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence
Having your bell rung. Getting knocked out. Seeing stars.
You might use one of those terms to describe a hard hit to your head. But your doctor might call it something else: a possible traumatic brain injury.
TBI is the disruption (often temporary) of normal brain function caused by a jolt or blow to the head, and the military population is especially susceptible. Nearly 459,000 service members worldwide were diagnosed with a first-time TBI from 2000 through the first quarter of 2022, according to the Department of Defense. Concussion—also known as mild TBI—accounts for over 80% of these, making it by far the most common type of active-duty TBI.
But a diagnosis requires a medical exam. With a population that has volunteered to put their lives on the line to protect and defend, it may be tempting to prioritize the mission over medicine, downplaying or ignoring any symptoms. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Capt. William Greeson, who was treated for brain injury at the end of a long military career, says this attitude is especially true for what he calls “military alphas.”
“[Their attitude is] ‘I’m going to go out front, I’m going to lead, I’m going to get it done, and we'll talk about this later,’ ” he said. “And then later never comes.”
At the Military Health System’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, we believe later should come sooner. With that in mind, let’s clear up some myths about the most common type of TBI. Can you separate fact from fiction in the following statements?
Concussions only happen on the battlefield.
False. About 8% of active-duty concussions are from battle injuries, and only 20% happen during deployment. The rest are sustained while doing things like playing contact sports, participating in military training, or crashing a vehicle.
You don’t have to get “knocked out” to have a concussion.
True. Concussions temporarily change how the brain works. This can be a brief loss of consciousness. More often, consciousness is altered, such as, being dazed or seeing stars, or unaffected.
You can have a concussion even without a blow to the head.
True. A concussion may be caused by a sudden increase or decrease in speed, even if the head doesn’t strike anything. For example, the external forces present in cases of whiplash or blast injury may be strong enough to shake the brain, causing it to hit the skull and leading to potential damage.
If you don’t have a headache, you’re fine.
False. A headache is the most common symptom of concussion, but it’s just one of many. Concussion symptoms can be physical, cognitive, or emotional, causing a wide variety of issues such as irritability, fatigue, balance difficulties, sleep disturbance, dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, and concentration or memory difficulties. Some symptoms are warrant a trip to your local emergency department. These include:
• Worsening headache
• Slurred speech or difficulty speaking
• Unsteadiness on feet
• Seizures
• Double or blurred vision
• Weakness or numbness anywhere in your body
• Decreasing levels of alertness
• Disorientation (not knowing where you are, difficulty recognizing people or places)
• Any unusual behavior (such as increased aggression, anger, irritability, or crying)
• Repeated vomiting
• Feeling that something “just isn’t right”
Symptoms of a concussion appear immediately after the injury.
False. Concussion symptoms can start immediately after the injury—or gradually over the next 48 hours. The good news is that they often resolve within days or weeks.
Most people fully recover from a concussion, particularly if it’s their first. Service members can usually return to full duty in 2–4 weeks.
However, the time it takes to heal depends on the individual, the nature of the injury, any history of concussions or migraines, and associated conditions such post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorder.
You should seek medical care and follow your doctor’s progressive return to activity guidance because a concussion can impact memory, concentration, coordination, reaction time, and other areas—that may affect job performance or unit readiness and safety. This is also why you must be medically cleared before picking up that basketball or your car keys; otherwise, symptoms like dizziness, balance problems, and fatigue can put you at risk of re-injury.
Visit https://rly.pt/TBICoE for more information about all types of TBI, as well as provider resources and support for service members, veterans, families, and caregivers.
TBI
Mental Health
Health
PTSD
Football
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 15
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Also, the NFL surveys equipment such as helmets to insure that they aid in avoiding severe injuries to the head.
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SFC Jim Ruether
As long as the athlete is producing revenue the managers say they will watch their boxer or footballplayer until they don't. A bitter end to a human being who doesn't know any better,
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I think there are many more concussions on the playing field then just the reciever that takes a hard hit. Those linemen live day in and day out with hard hits.
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SFC Jim Ruether
Sadly these injuries start at the highschool level and the frequency and severity of the hit can maim a young man or woman for life. Headers on the soccer pitch have contributed more hits during a game and even though the severity of a soccer ball being bounced off your head, the numbers remaim high and the injury multiplies.
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For sometime, these type of injuries were not discussed and or highlighted. As lovers of football, our minds somewhat focuses just on our favorite teams. But this message helps us more to understand the impact of these injuries. The NFL has stepped in an developed protocols. Other sports such as the NBA has also defined fouls as flagrant or not. If the fouls are determined to be flagrant players are removed from playing and fined.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
The NFL stepped in after there were a number of lawsuit on TBI/CTE. A lot of things brought that around, playing on Astro Turf, increase in size and speed of Defensive and Offensive linemen. Getting hit by a 6'6" giant that goes 340 and does the 40 in under 4.4 is like getting hit by a one ton weight.
The average professional career in the NFL is now 3.3 years
The average professional career in the NFL is now 3.3 years
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Disclaimer: If you looked like Tua Tagovailoa last week (posturing), you might have a concussion.
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Last month, at age 83 plus, I suffered my second "syncope" episode (no. 1 was four years ago). Both times I fainted and fell in the exact same place and fractured ribs and knees. I have also had multiple other problems from two tours in Vietnam. PTSD and Agent Orange afflictions (Diabetes, Prostate Cancer, High Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar control, etc.). After the latest fainting episode and a three-day hospital stay, my heart Physician prescribed multiple full body X-Rays, and Scans, etc. Nothing was found as causative of the recent "Syncope" episodes, but he did find evidence of a previous "Stroke" years ago. I cannot remember ever having any stroke in my entire life. However, after reading the above Rallypoint information post, I have remembered an incident which occurred in late 1962, in the "Cholon" district of Saigon. Cholon was well known at the time as unsafe but especially so at night (it became Viet Cong territory). Unfortunately, about 4 or 5 USAF enlisted members, including myself, visited a bar there and were enjoying ourselves with a few beers. Needing to go to the bathroom, I excused myself and walked towards the rear of the bar. The entrance to the men's and women's area was covered with a long length Beaded Curtain. As I stepped through this beaded doorway, I was struck just over my right eyebrow with some very heavy object which slit my eyebrow and knocked me unconscious for several minutes. My friends missed me after about 15 minutes and came looking for me. They found me and rushed me to the Tan Son Nhut AB by taxi and I received a few stitches and returned to work the next morning around 0400 as usual. I will relate this to my Physician tomorrow. I will also start wearing a Heart Monitor for the next thirty days next week per my physician's direction. I post this to thank RallyPoint for the information.
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
Unfortunately your tour in Vietnam places you at profound physical traumas. I wish you well!
Rich
Rich
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I suffered a TBI when I was hanged outside a C-130 almost 47 years ago. I hit my head on the step and knocked myself out. Today, I still suffer some of the problems that developed from that concussion. The other problems suffered from hitting the plane resulted in a medical discharge with 16 years of service and over 19 operations over the years. But the concussion, in my opinion, has been the most impactful to my life.
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Is there a test that can be taken to know if you have ever had a TBI? Can
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
Request a neurological evaluation with a specialist who is experienced in combat trauma.
Rich
Rich
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I believe that I have breachers syndrome. I was a Mortarman when I was in and experienced thousands of rounds going down range. How do I get checked
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
Get a consultation from a neurologist who is familiar with combat trauma.
Rich
Rich
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Suspended Profile
The whole getting the proper care is a process. Starts with a psychiatrist, then mri, ptsd treatment and then hopefully(at least this is were i am now at in the process) tbi care at the shepherd center? Some of the other places are 1- 1.5 yrs out.
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