Let’s assume that you are involved in a car accident, trucking accident, or fall of some type in San Francisco and you injure your head and suffer a concussion or Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI).
How do you deal with this sort of injury at home and at work?
First, if you have suffered head injury, concussion, or brain injury of any severity level seek medical attention immediately. This applies regardless whether you have lost consciousness or not. Your doctors can properly assess you and determine the best course of treatment. So, first and foremost get professional medical treatment for your injury.
Second, let your friends and family, coworkers and collegues, all know about your injury or situation. Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries can impact your ability to think, concentrate, and remember. So it is important that these individuals understand that your brain injury may be impacting your cognitive abilities and your emotions.
Third, during the first 72 hours of your brain injury try and make sure friends or family are with you as much as possible. This is because it is during this critical time period that you may suffer dizziness, disorientation, or other symptoms that could cause you to injury yourself again. Also, the information and symptoms reflected in this time period will be important in your treatment.
Fourth, as should be clear, consciousness or MTBI often impact memory. So, get a note book in which you can write important names, dates, appointments, and events. If you were not already using a calendar of PDA get one and start using it. Write down important information as it happens so that you can refer back to it when appropriate.
Fifth, if you have regular doctors appointments keep them and make all your physicians or health care providers aware of your condition.
And finally, follow your doctors’ orders and treatment program. Too many times injury victims don’t complete the treatment programs or therapy ordered by their doctor because it is inconvenient or because they do not feel it is helping. Recovering from a mild traumatic brain injury takes time, discuss these issues with your doctor, and good luck.
