Brain injuries can occur from a vast array of circumstances. When a baby is born there are several situations that occur prior to delivery and during delivery that result in lack of oxygen to the baby, and that lack of oxygen causes brain injury. Cerebral Palsy is such a condition that occurs when the baby’s brain does not get sufficient oxygen during the delivery:
“Cerebral palsy” is a general term for a group of disorders that appear during the first few years of life and affect a child’s ability to coordinate body movements. Cerebral palsy can cause muscles to be weak and floppy, or rigid and stiff.
Another type of brain injury occurs when there is a head trauma. Head trauma causes the brain to essentially be bruised as it bangs against the rigid structure of the skull. The brain has a very fragile and soft texture and constitution. When it is shaken violently it bangs back and forth inside the skull and sometimes that results in microscopic bleeding within the brain. This microscopic bleeding at first may not produce any noticeable signs to the person who has hit their head. However, the small bleeding that occurs, if it continues, will fill the brain with blood that then creates pressure on the brain in the closed structure of the skull. As the pressure builds severe headache occurs usually accompanied by nausea. At some point, the pressure is so great that the entire brain is crushed. A small internal bleed can occur without a person being unconscious. Always be careful with any trauma to the head. Delay in getting treatment can be fatal.
Brain injury can also occur when a person suffers a stroke or has a blood clot that passes through the blood vessels of the brain causing injury.
Some types of brain injury are difficult to diagnose because the patient appears normal. In this section of the website various aspects of brain injury will be explained that will help people protect themselves if they suspect they have a brain injury.