When you hit your head, your brain may suffer an injury. Inside your head, your brain may crash against your skull. With a hard enough impact, it could hit twice, once in either direction (this is called a counter blow).
Immediately following that blow to the head, you may pass out. Sometimes, you may feel a little disoriented but otherwise fine. Unfortunately, with traumatic injuries like this, you may find that your symptoms are delayed and come on quickly once they start.
What happens immediately after a brain injury?
Immediately after an injury, you may have symptoms such as:
- Blurry vision
- Dizziness
- A loss of consciousness
- Disorientation
Over time, the brain will then swell. As it swells and pushes against the skull, secondary injuries can occur. Those injuries are caused by a lack of circulation, which reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches your brain.
Secondary injuries are a result of your body’s inflammatory response, so quick treatment with anti-inflammatory medications, surgery or other techniques may help. Don’t try to treat yourself. Instead, go to the emergency room immediately after suffering a blow to the head. Then, your medical provider will do a physical exam, perform imaging tests and determine the severity of your brain injury.
There is no way to be sure of how you will recovery following a brain injury. It can take weeks, months or years to see full recovery, though recovery does slow down after the first few months to year of healing. You may need physical therapy, occupational therapy and other medical services to help you as you focus on healing in the future.
