March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month and it’s a great time to raise awareness about traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can be a life-altering or fatal injury to sustain. Many traumatic brain injuries occur due to blunt force trauma to the brain. When this happens, the brain shakes around inside the skull, which can cause bruising and bleeding to occur. In some cases, the brain swells due to the injury and because of the skull there is no place for the brain to go, causing pressure which can cause further damage to the brain tissue.
Brain injuries can also occur if a person’s brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time, as can occur with some birth injuries or with near-drownings. Injury can also occur if the skull is pierced and the tissue inside is directly impacted.