Brain Injury Awareness Month: Did you know?

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

03.18.2019

Story by Patricia Beal 

Womack Army Medical Center

Did you know?
• Traumatic Brain Injuries are treatable.
• Most people experience full recovery.
• A TBI is an injury event like a broken bone or a torn muscle—the sooner you get checked out, the sooner you can get treated and recover.
• “Toughing it out” can prolong recovery and lead to persistent problems that could have been avoided.
• Your healthcare provider can help treat your symptoms and advise you on how to return to your regular activities safely and gradually.
• The single most common symptom of a concussion is headache.
• The most effective treatment for concussion is early education for the patient and the family.
• The Fort Bragg TBI Education Expo is taking place at the Intrepid Spirit Center on March 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WOMACK ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Service members and their Families can learn more about Traumatic Brain Injury symptoms, treatment, research, recovery and prevention at Fort Bragg’s TBI Education Expo at the Intrepid Spirit Center March 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This free event also offers information on the Progressive Return to Activities plan; a well-researched step-by-step recovery plan that providers, unit leaders and Family members can use together to monitor service members with concussions as they gradually return to pre-injury activities. The center will also offer a two-hour PRA class on March 28.
“Many people view TBI as a ‘diagnosis’ rather than an injury event,” said Commissioned Corps, U.S. Public Health Service Cmdr. Scott Klimp, Fort Bragg Intrepid Spirit director and Department of Brain Injury Medicine chief. “Following a mild TBI, also known as a concussion, individuals may experience a variety of symptoms such as headache, changes in vision, difficulty with balance, fatigue or cognitive difficulties. After a thorough assessment, there are many different types of treatment available to help individuals recover and return to full activities.”
Pfc. Anthony Lamberty, a combat medic who suffered a TBI as a result of a vehicular accident while in the field in September of 2018, is receiving treatment at the Intrepid Spirit Center and has seen improvement.
“Headaches are still a problem, but my eyes are getting stronger,” said Lamberty. “They gave me three special glasses, and they help with the headaches—mainly the transition glasses for the bright motor pool.”
Vision rehabilitation helps retrain the brain and eyes to work together to improve vision when structures are disturbed in a TBI.
Recovery may also include art therapy and yoga.
“After a brain injury, the body and the mind may struggle to function together in unison as they once did,” said Klimp. “The act of creating art can assist with developing neuroplasticity, or ‘rewiring’ of the brain’s pathways.”
As a therapy for both the mind and the body, yoga can improve mood and balance and quiet the mind, allowing the body to body to focus on recovery.
Alejandro Godinez teaches yoga at the Intrepid Spirit Center and helps people see it as a discipline.
“TBI or no TBI, people who come here are all experiencing some kind of chronic pain,” said Godinez. “I like them to see it not so much as ‘I’m coming in here to be prescribed a series of postures and exercises and then I’m going to leave fixed.’ It’s something that should be considered a help and a lifestyle.”
Twenty-two Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center sites treat, support, train and monitor service members, veterans, family members and providers who have been, or care for those who are, affected by TBIs.
The Fort Bragg DVBIC is partially co-located within the Intrepid Spirit Center.

• Date Taken: 03.18.2019
• Date Posted: 03.19.2019 12:09
• Story ID: 314830
• Location: FORT BRAGG, NC, US