3 Myths About Traumatic Brain Injuries | Important Facts to Know About Concussions | Head Injury

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In this video personal injury attorney, Joe Lamb talks about three myths about brain injuries or concussions.

Myth #1: "You can only get a concussion "from a direct impact to the head."
Closed head injuries can occur in a variety of ways, not just a blunt impact to the head, but quite often with any kind of injury with what's known as a whiplash effect, where your head is kicked forward and then thrown back. Many people misunderstand what a concussion really is. They tend to believe a concussion is only caused when someone is hit in the head or they are thrown from their bike and their head hits the ground, or the very common example is a football injury. But in reality, a concussion occurs any time the brain is essentially "sloshed around" inside the skull. Think of your brain like a pickle jar. If you shake that pickle around in the jar, it’s going to hit all the edges of the jar. That's really similar to what's going on with your brain inside of your skull. Anything that's going to cause your head to go forward quickly, back quickly or any kind of blunt impact is gonna cause the brain to quickly move inside of that jar, which is the skull, and hit the edges. It's that movement that stretches the neurons which are the brain cells and causes injury, which is what many people call a concussion or other type of brain injury.

Myth #2: "You can't get a concussion while wearing a helmet."
This is one of the biggest myths that, at least in my practice, I see insurance adjusters try to claim. They will say things like "this individual on a bicycle fell, but they were wearing their helmet. Isn't the helmet designed to prevent a concussion?" And, "I would say that almost any fan of football is very much aware that over the years we've come to realize that not only do helmets not prevent concussions, but they can actually contribute to a concussion. I don't mean that helmets make it more likely to get a concussion, but at least in football or cycling, it's very common for people to have a false sense of security of, oh, well, my head is protected, there's something over my skull. I'm going to be just fine." The reality is it's about the brain moving within the skull, not so much any impact to your head itself. Thankfully, modern technology, for helmets is being developed with that in mind and it's starting to reduce the risk of concussion. There's no helmet out there of any kind that's going to completely eliminate the risk of concussion. But, any helmet is kind of like when a car, the bumper crunches in to lower the force of someone in an accident. It's the same thing with helmets. They're being designed to crumple, so that way it reduces the acceleration and deceleration of the brain and ultimately reduces injuries.

Just because you get a MIPS bicycle helmet or the best motorcycle Asai helmet you can buy, doesn't mean that you've completely eliminated the risk. So, if you're in a bicycle accident or a motorcycle accident, it's still smart to get checked out medically for a concussion, which is a type of TBI, which is a traumatic brain injury.

Myth #3: "You have to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion."
This is absolutely not true. In fact, this is probably one of the most dangerous and prevalent myths out there in terms of concussions and brain injuries. Many people will talk about the idea of, well, you just had your bell rung, you were just dazed and confused. Well, dazed and confused are hallmark symptoms of having suffered a concussion. In fact, there are three different levels of concussions, from grade one to grade three, and in only grade three does an individual actually have to lose consciousness temporarily.

So, the best way to explain this is if you ever do lose consciousness you certainly need to get seen by a doctor for a brain injury. If you've been in a car, motorcycle, or bicycle accident, you need to be seen in case you did suffer an injury. And the medical literature coming out these days is really showing that it's something that you want t get seen for early and that by taking the right steps early on you can really mitigate any risk you might have a head injury and suffer long-term damage.