Protect Your Brain After You Take A Spill

When you lose your footing and fall, you can be in for a lot of pain. You may even need surgical intervention and physical therapy as a result of the fall. However there is more to consider than just the obvious effects of falling. Falling can cause trauma to your brain, especially if you hit your head when you fell. In fact, the Mayo Clinic states that the number one cause of traumatic brain injuries is falling. Here are some symptoms of traumatic brain injury that can be caused by a fall. 

Chronic Headache

When your brain has been jarred because of a fall, the result can be a headache that continues to occur throughout the rest of your life. The pain from chronic headaches can be severe and can even cause you to be unable to work or perform everyday activities. 

Chronic headaches can occur several times a month or sometimes every day. The pain can range from a mild, constant ache to a sharp, stabbing pain in a particular location in your head. These headaches can sometimes disappear for several months or more only to return one day. 

Medications can be prescribed for these chronic headaches, and they are sometimes effective although patients do have to watch out for side effects. 

Balance Disorders

Some patients find that they can no longer effectively balance after suffering a fall. This puts them at risk for falling again and again. 

Your balance is regulated in your brain, and that part of the brain can be damaged from a sharp impact such as one that occurs as the result of a fall. When this regulation center is disturbed you may find that you are unable to walk straight and keep your body upright for more than a few seconds at a time without wobbling. 

A lack of balance can cause severe problems in your life. Sometimes a balance problem is so bad after a fall that that the patient is not able to resume normal activities and may have to leave employment and go on disability. 

Balance disorders can be very difficult to treat and often continue for the rest of the patients' lives. 

Vision Problems

A jolt to the brain caused by a fall can lead to serious changes in vision. Some patients have experienced a total loss of vision or a limited amount of vision just after a fall. In most cases, their vision returns after a few hours. 

Other patients have found that their vision begins slowly getting worse during the time after the fall occurred. Vision may become blurry, or the person may experience blind spots or a reduction in the field of vision. This type of vision loss may or may not correct itself over time and can become permanent. 

In some cases, brain trauma causes the person to permanently lose the ability to see. 

Everyday Health lists several reasons that a brain injury can cause vision problems. These include a lack of blood flow through the optic nerve, bleeding into the eye and a loosening or even detachment of the retina. 

Falls can cause more than just pain and bruising to skin and joints. They can also cause severe brain trauma that can lead to a variety of severe medical problems. If you have suffered from a fall, be sure to have a thorough medical examination. Let your doctor or someone from a site like http://www.hvlawfirm.com know if you struck your head during the fall and any symptoms, problems or changes you have noticed since the incident. Being proactive and catching problems quickly can make a difference in your eventual treatment and recovery. 

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