Signs and Symptoms of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
The signs of brain injury can be very different depending on where and how severely the brain is injured. Diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) can be challenging because symptoms often are common to other medical problems, and onset of symptoms may occur days, weeks or months after the initial injury.
Symptoms in Persons of All Ages
Signs and symptoms of an injury to the brain may include the following.
Cognitive symptoms:
- Attention difficulties
- Concentration problems
- Memory problems
- Orientation problems
Physical symptoms:
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Uneven gait
- Nausea
- Blurred vision
- Seizures
Behavioral changes:
- Irritability
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep disturbances
- Problems with emotional control
- Loss of initiative
- Problems related to employment, marriage, relationships, home management or school management
Older Adults
Older adults with a brain injury may have a higher risk of serious complications such as a blood clot on the brain. Headaches that get worse or an increase in confusion are signs of this complication. A patient with these symptoms should be seen immediately.
Traumatic brain injury is a serious health risk for older adults. Falls are the major cause of TBI. Older adults with TBI may present symptoms that might be confused with other age related conditions. Persons age 75 years and older have the highest rate of TBI, hospitalization and death.
Young Children
Although children can have the same symptoms of brain injury as adults, it is harder for young children to let others know how they are feeling.
Ask parents if they have noticed any of the following in their child:
- Listlessness, tiring easily
- Irritability, crankiness
- Change in eating or sleeping patterns
- Change in the way they play
- Change in the way they perform or act at school
- Lack of interest in favorite toys
- Loss of new skills, such as toilet training
- Loss of balance, unsteady walking
Children with a brain injury may exhibit one or more of the following signs and symptoms.
Physical disabilities:
- Problems speaking, seeing, hearing and using other senses
- Headaches and fatigue
- Trouble with skills such as writing or drawing
- Sudden contraction or tightening of muscles (spasticity)
- Seizures
- Problems with balance and walking
- Complete or partial paralysis on one or both sides of the body
Difficulties with thinking:
- Trouble with short-term or long-term memory
- Trouble concentrating for long periods of time
- Slow thinking
- Trouble talking and listening
- Difficulty with reading, writing, planning, sequencing of events and judgment
Social, behavioral or emotional problems:
- Sudden changes in mood
- Anxiety and depression
- Trouble relating to others
- Restlessness
- Laughing or crying a lot
- Loss of motivation and/or control of emotions