Table of contents:
- What is a head injury?
- What causes head injuries?
- What are the symptoms that occur if a head injury has caused brain damage?
- What is the treatment for people with brain injury?
Head injury is a global health problem that can cause death and disability in a person. In Indonesia alone, based on data from the Ministry of Health in 2013, there were 100,000 people who died as a result of head injuries and brain damage.
Head injuries are the most common injuries suffered by traffic accident victims. In Indonesia, it is known that as many as 70% of traffic accident victims are motorcyclists aged around 15 to 55 years. The level of disability and the number of deaths caused by head injuries and brain damage is still quite high at 25%.
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What is a head injury?
A head injury is a condition that affects the skull bones, soft tissues of the head, and the brain. This is very dangerous because it can cause disability, mental disorders, and even death. There are two types of head injuries that often occur, namely:
Traumatic Brain Injury or intracranial injury, is an injury caused by external pressure, such as a blow or impact, which can cause the brain to move and shift inside the skull or even cause skull damage. Meanwhile, damage to the skull can result in brain damage.
Acquired Brain Injury, or internal brain injury is an injury caused by pressure from within the brain. It occurs at the cellular level and is most often caused by tumors and other nervous system diseases, such as stroke.
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What causes head injuries?
When the brain is deprived of oxygen for a long time, brain damage can occur. This damage can arise from head injuries or various other nervous system diseases. Causes of traumatic brain injury include:
- Traffic accidents are the main cause of the high incidence of head injuries in Indonesia. In addition, head injuries are often the result of drivers not obeying traffic regulations, such as not wearing helmets on motorbikes and seat belt On Car Driver.
- Injury while exercising. Sports that are at risk of causing head injury are soccer, boxing, hockey, baseball, skateboarding, and various other sports that are high-impact or extreme sports.
- Falls, such as falling out of bed, falling in the bathroom, or falling while climbing stairs are the most common causes of head injury in both adults and children.
- Physical violence, as many as 20% of head injuries are caused by violence, such as being hit by a bullet, or being hit and hit hard to the head.
In addition, there are other causes of brain injury, such as:
- Poisoning by a drug or substance that is poisonous
- Infection of the nervous system
- Drowning and choking
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Aneurysm
- Neurological disease
- Drug abuse.
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What are the symptoms that occur if a head injury has caused brain damage?
The following are symptoms and signs that appear when a person experiences brain damage, whether it is due to a traumatic head injury or damage that occurs due to a disturbance in the internal brain. These symptoms are divided into four major disorders, namely:
Cognitive symptoms namely in the form of disruption in processing information, difficulty in expression, difficulty understanding other people, unable to focus, unable to understand abstract concepts, memory loss, and difficulty in making decisions.
Perceptual symptoms, namely changes in the ability to see, hear, and sense of touch, impaired smell and taste, have balance problems, and are sensitive to pain.
Physical symptoms it causes extreme fatigue, tremors, difficulty speaking, sleep disturbances, convulsions, and sensitivity to light.
Emotional and behavioral symptoms arising from brain damage include irritability and stress, high emotional levels or no emotions at all, increased aggressiveness.
What is the treatment for people with brain injury?
Treatment and treatment of brain injury depends on the severity of the injury. Minor head injuries usually rarely cause symptoms.
If you have a minor head injury and feel pain then you are advised to take acetaminophen to reduce the pain. But you are not advised to take nonstreroidal drugs, such as aspirin or ibuprofen because they can cause bleeding to get worse. Meanwhile, for severe head injuries, various treatments are usually carried out, such as surgery, rehabilitation, and taking several drugs.
