Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) occurs when trauma causes damage to the brain. This trauma can happen instantly or develop over time with repetitive injury.

TBI is commonly caused by falls, car accidents, violence, sports injury, explosions, and combat injuries. TBI can have wide-ranging physical and mental effects. Some signs and symptoms may appear immediately after trauma or accident, while others may take days, months, or years to develop. All age groups are at risk of TBI, but the more vulnerable include children ages 1-4, young adults ages 15-24, and adults 60 years or older.

TBI can affect the following:

• Intellect: Memory, learning, reasoning, judgment, concentration, problem-solving, planning, and decision-making.
• Communication: Difficulty speaking or writing, trouble following a conversation, and inability to organize thoughts.
• Behavior: Loss of self-control, lack of awareness, risky behavior, verbal or physical outbursts.
• Emotional: Depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, anger.
• Sensory: Ringing in ears, insufficient hand-eye coordination, vision concerns, difficulty recognizing objects, balance.

Mild TBI patients often have headaches, nausea, constant tiredness, dizziness, mood changes, depression, and sleep problems. Some also have mild sensory issues with vision, taste, smell, or ringing in their ears.

Moderate to severe TBI patients may also have vomiting, convulsions/seizures, fluid discharge from the nose or ears, extreme tiredness, weakness, confusion, and altered behaviors.

Infants and small children may not be able to communicate symptoms well, so they must be observed. A child with TBI will show changes in nursing or eating habits, unusual irritability, persistent crying, sleep changes, seizures, depression, drowsiness, and loss of interest in toys and environment.

Regardless of your symptoms, TBI injuries usually result in displacement of the top bone of the spine, the atlas. The atlas houses the arteries, veins, and nerves to and from the head and brain. When the atlas is out of position, it impinges on these blood vessels and nerves, worsening the symptoms of TBI and preventing proper healing from occurring.

At EPIC, we specialize in addressing the atlas bone and making sure it is in its correct position and functioning correctly.