A complete Resource center for brain injury victims

Types of Brain Injury

Head Injury Versus Brain Injury

A head injury and brain injury are two different types of injuries.  They may occur together or separately and are sometimes referred to synonymously but a head injury simply describes an injury to the head while a brain injury is descriptive of an injury specifically to the brain.

Different Types of Brain Injuries

There are different types of brain injuries with different causes and different effects.  A brain injury may effect only one area of the brain, multiple areas, or the entire brain. The damaged area may affect one or more functions.

Symptoms of Brain Damage

Brain damage will result in different levels of symptoms. We describe the different levels as Significant, Serious, Major and Death.  Major symptoms are easily recognized. However, significant symptoms and minor symptoms may go unnoticed for a period of time or never even recognized. Symptoms may include one or more of a wide variety of functions such as physical, cognitive and behavioral functioning. See an extensive list of symptoms of brain injury.

Causes of brain damage

Accident causes:

  • Physical trauma such as from a car accident, motorcycle accident or fall;
  • Insufficient blood or oxygen supply such as from birth trauma or an electric shock;
  • Exposure to a toxic substance such as from a chemical accident.

Non-accident causes can also be responsible for causing brain damage, ie.:

  • Disease
  • Inherited/congenital disorders or
  • Degeneration (a nonspecific medical term referring to aging. For instance, micro strokes can cause dementia).

Different Types of Brain Injuries

Concussion

Contusion

Coup-Contrecoup Injury

Diffuse Axonal Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI)

Anoxic Event

Acquired Brain Disorder (ABD)

Second Impact Syndrome “Recurrent Traumatic Brain Injury”

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Locked in Syndrome

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

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