Car
Accidents and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
When
you woke up today, you thought this was like any other Friday. You’re on your
way to work, and traffic is flowing smoother than normal. Suddenly, someone crashes into the back end
of your car and you feel your head extend back over the headrest and then
rebound forwards, almost hitting the steering with your forehead. It all
happened so fast. After a few minutes, you notice your neck and head starting to
hurt in a way you’ve not previously felt.
When the police arrive and start asking questions about what had
happened, you try to piece together what happened but you’re not quite sure of
the sequence of events. Your memory just
isn’t that clear. Within the first few days, in addition to significant neck
and headache pain, you notice your memory seems fuzzy, and you easily lose your
train of thought. Everything seems like an effort and you notice you’re quite
irritable. When your chiropractor asks you if you’ve felt any of these
symptoms, you look at them and say, "…how did you know? I just thought I
was having a bad day – I didn’t know whiplash could cause these symptoms!"
Because these symptoms are often
subtle and non-specific, it’s quite normal for patients not to complain about
them. In fact, we almost always have to describe the symptoms and ask if any of
these symptoms “sound familiar” to the patient.
As pointed out above, patients with
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) don’t mention any of the previously
described symptoms and in fact, may be embarrassed to discuss these symptoms
with their chiropractor or physician when they first present after a car
crash. This is because the symptoms are
vague and hard to describe and, many feel the symptoms are caused by simply
being tired or perhaps upset about the accident. When directly asked if any of these symptoms
exist, the patient is often surprised there is an actual reason for feeling
this way.
The
cause of MTBI is due to the brain actually bouncing or rebounding off the inner
walls of the bony skull during the “whiplash” process, when the head is forced
back and forth after the impact. During that process, the brain which is
suspended inside our skull, is forced forwards and literally ricochets off the
skull and damages some of the nerve cells most commonly of either the brain
stem (the part connected to the spinal cord), the frontal lobe (the part behind
the forehead) and/or the temporal lobe (the part of the brain located on the
side of the head). Depending on the direction and degree of force generated by
the collision (front end, side impact or rear end collision), the area of the
brain that may be damaged varies as it could be the area closest to initial
impact or, the area on the opposite side, due to the rebound effect. Depending
on which part of the brain is injured, the physical findings may include
problems with walking, balance, coordination, strength/endurance, as well as
difficulties with communicating (“cognitive deficits”), processing information,
memory, and altered psychological functions.
The
good news is that most of these injuries will recover within 3-12 months but
unfortunately, not all do and in these cases, the term, “post-concussive
syndrome” is sometimes used.
Concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries are common findings for people injured in auto accidents in Baltimore. Dr. Gulitz routinely co-treats his concussion patients with local neurologists for patients that require additional treatment. If you or anyone you know may need the help of a local Baltimore Chiropractor for whiplash with or without associated concussion/mild traumatic brain injuries, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500 or email us. We would be happy to help!
The preceding was reproduced with permission from Dr. Ben Altadonna and "The Practice Building Alliance."