tinnitus Tbi?

[Billyboy]

Someone told me of TBI, I think I read about it in the Vets monthly paper. Can some tell me about this TBI? I am connected for tinnitus and hearing loss. I stood right next to the cannon is the reason for tinnitus and hearing loss???????

[RockyA1911]

TBI is Traumatic Brain Injury as a result of open or closed head injury. A closed head injury is result of a brain concussion etc, whereas an open head injury results normally in a penetration of removal of portions of skull due to compound depressed skull fracture (damaged skull imbedded in brain). I have an open TBI that resulted in post traumatic encephalopathy, skull loss 4.5 x 4.5 cm (larger than a 50 cent piece), along with a cranioplasty.

Go to a search engine and enter Traumatic Brain Injury for more information.

Yes, head injuries can cause tinnitus also exposure to military noises.

[timetowinarace]

My TBI is closed head injury. Post Cuncusion Syndrome. I have tinnitus.

Okay, here we go.

By cannon I'm assuming you mean Howitzer. Standing next to one as it fires, without ear protection, could cause hearing loss and tinnitus. However, I used to sleep next to one, on a cot, while it fired. I have no hearing loss and my tinnitus has progressed with time indicating the head injury is the cause.

Standing forward of the muzzle or or next to the muzzle as the gun fires can cause a TBI. Often death. On a 102mm, 155mm or larger gun the cuncussion shock near or forward of the muzzle will likely cause AT LEAST a mild TBI and likely a severe one depending on distance. Standing a few feet behind the muzzle is not likely to cause harm except for hearing damage if ear plugs were not worn.

Or in my case, gun not fireing, a poorly thrown ten pound sledge hammer drops through the hatch and lands squarely on top of the head can cause a TBI.

Time

[timetowinarace]

Traumatic Brain Injuries in Soldiers Often Go Undetected

By Jason Margolis

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began two years ago, the Department of Defense reports that more than 1,500 U.S. soldiers have died and more than 11-thousand American troops have been wounded. Among the most debilitating wounds are traumatic brain injuries. One of the nation's leading brain treatment centers is the Veteran's Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, California. Within the confines of the

One of the nation's leading brain treatment centers is the Veteran's Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, California sprawling VA campus, veterans of World War II and the Vietnam war work on rehabilitation alongside returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In today's warfare, the silver lining, if there can be one, is that new body armor and better emergency medical techniques are keeping more soldiers alive. But one area that can't entirely be protected is the face and parts of the skull.

That's where Erik Castillo was wounded. "They say I got injured by four mortar rounds landed nearby, close to me, and exploded and the shrapnel hit my head," he explains. The 21-year-old Army Specialist was injured in July in Baghdad. The right side of his forehead was shattered, and now sinks sharply inward. His right eye droops and can't align with the left. Speaking from his hospital bed, he repeatedly strokes the hair above his injury. He has physical injuries, too. "My left side of the body doesn't work so well," he says. "So I can't move my arm or my leg like normal. So that means I can't do regular stuff. Like I used to walk, grab things with my left arm." Doctors say his symptoms resemble those of a very severe stroke. He works daily with occupational and physical therapists.

Most patients take 18 to 24 months to recover from a traumatic brain injury. The severity of the injury determines how much function can be regained. It's a slow process because brain cells are unique. In other parts of the body, healing is done by replacement cells. For example, if you cut yourself, a few days later there's new skin being formed underneath the scab. But Harriet Zeiner, a clinical neuro-psychologist at the Palo Alto hospital, says the brain heals differently. "It's designed to," she explains, "because it's a repository for all the information you're ever going to have. And so if it got replacement cells, one of the main problems is, they'd be dumb, they wouldn't have access to all the information you've acquired over a lifetime."

Over the past three years, 440 U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated for traumatic brain injuries; However, Dr. Zeiner believes many veterans with less severe brain damage are not getting the medical attention they need. The gaping hole in Erik Castillo's skull left no doubt about the severity of his injury. But for others, the diagnosis is not so obvious. Dr. Zeiner says just being near a blast can rattle someone's brain. And since there are no outward signs of injury, the soldiers are often unaware that their brain has suffered physical trauma. "The individual looks perfectly okay," she says. "They sound the same, they look the same, there's no injury. They simply think more slowly, they have memory lapses, they don't read the emotional signs from their partners very well. They appear to have changes in empathy."

Too often, she says, soldiers who complain of irritability or changes in concentration are treated for psychiatric problems, rather than neurological issues. Ideally, she says, she'd like to see the U.S. military screen all combat soldiers for signs of brain trauma before they return to civilian life.

[Guest jangrin]

This is a very good article. The other thing I would like to mention is a person can suffer " a closed head brain trauma", not only from loud noises like bombs and such. But if a veteran was involved in a motor vehicle accident, or suffered "Whiplash" type injuries from the neck. It has been shown that a closed head brain trauma can cause, tinnitus, memory loss, confusion, lack of concentration, etc.

Also, trauma from fighting, contact, much like an infant suffers from the shaken baby symdrome, we adults can suffer from injury without the head having to come into contact with anything. Simply the brain hitting the inside of the skull is enough to cause injury and the various types of symptoms of brain trauma.

Just a little more info.

Jangrin

[Guest jangrin]

This is a very good article. The other thing I would like to mention is a person can suffer " a closed head brain trauma", not only from loud noises like bombs and such. But if a veteran was involved in a motor vehicle accident, or suffered "Whiplash" type injuries from the neck. It has been shown that a closed head brain trauma can cause, tinnitus, memory loss, confusion, lack of concentration, etc.

Also, trauma from fighting, contact, much like an infant suffers from the shaken baby symdrome, we adults can suffer from injury without the head having to come into contact with anything. Simply the brain hitting the inside of the skull is enough to cause injury and the various types of symptoms of brain trauma.

Just passing on a little more info.

Jangrin

[Billyboy]

thanks for the help, i'll be checking into this. bill