Traumatic Brain Injury is the result of any external force impacting someone’s skull. The injury is usually divided into three categories of intensity: mild, moderate, and severe. It is such a common of wound in the current wars because most of the combat casualties occur as a result of roadside bombs, rockets, mortars, and other improvised weapons. Generally speaking, the reason the insurgency is so deadly and hard to eliminate, and the reason they use these weapons so much, is because they don’t frequently engage our forces in traditional maneuver warfare. The majority of the deaths and injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan have come from roadside bombs specifically, because these can be hidden and sneakily activated for when our troops come upon them. Oftentimes, the IED triggerman can walk away from the blast without being noticed or observed, since they can use any electronic device to activate these bombs (or sometimes they’ll use motion sensors or pressure plates to fire them). It’s the toughest of the enemies’ weapons to counter, which is why they are so lethal and why they are still used as the main arsenal of the insurgencies today, almost ten years after the Global War on Terror began.
Revolutionary armor usage – both personal and vehicle-related – and the implementation of top-notch battlefield operating rooms and hospitals have resulted in higher incidences of TBI because, in the past, the same type of injuries would kill the soldier but now they survive. In fact, the ratio of wounded to dead for the Global War on Terror is the highest ever in the history of warfare, which is laudable, but new problems arise. These defenses protect the individual warrior’s life but, as you can imagine, the injuries resulting from a crippling concussive blast that knock someone down or against a wall cannot be protected against.
And, as you can also imagine, the psychological repercussions of a blow to the brain can be particularly harmful to the surviving veteran. Here’s a list of symptoms for mild TBI: headache, changes in sleep patterns, confusion, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, lack of motor coordination, dizziness, difficulty balancing, vomiting, nausea, lightheadedness, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, and trouble with memory and focus.
Moderate to severe TBI can result in the following symptoms: repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions, an inability to awaken, slurred speech, dilation of one or both pupils, headache that does not go away, dysarthria (muscle weakness that causes disordered speech), weakness or numbness in the limbs, aphasia (word-finding difficulties), loss of coordination, confusion, restlessness, or agitation, deficits in social judgment, and cognitive changes.
Treatment and diagnosis is somewhat difficult, especially in veterans, because many of these symptoms overlap with combat stress and PTSD. Fortunately, this issue has earned a lot of attention and a new sense of urgency in the last few years, and there are many resources at your disposal. I will be discussing those in the next blog.
If you’ve ever come close to an explosion, vehicle accident, fall or other accident while in the military, it is your interest to at least get yourself checked. The only person responsible for your health is you. No one else is going to accept accountability.
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