Brain injury is incredibly common in the United States, with a staggering 2.8 million Americans sustaining TBI annually - and TBI is just one category of brain injury. However, most TBIs experienced are mild, commonly called concussions. Additionally, nearly 90% of people affected by TBI are treated and released from an emergency department. What happens then? If the patient is still showing TBI symptoms - emotional, physical, or cognitive - they should reach out to our rehabilitation center. At NeuLife, our TBI rehabilitation programs are designed to promote recovery to the highest level of functional independence and successful community reintegration.

Now that you know how prevalent TBI is in the US, let us go deeper into what TBI actually is.

TBI explained

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is just a subgroup of brain injury. Generally, brain injury is categorized as pre birth or acquired. The former refers to an injury, which is hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or introduced by birth trauma. Whereas, acquired brain injury (ABI) appears after birth, commonly due to external factors. ABI can then be divided into three different types:

• • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): alteration in brain function, or brain pathology, caused by an external force.
  • Mild TBI (MTBI): a brief change in mental status following a forceful head motion, or impact. Also known as, concussion, minor head trauma, minor TBI, minor brain injury, or minor head injury.

• Non-traumatic: brain injuries not caused by external trauma, but by conditions. These include strokes, aneurysms, and tumors.

Physicians specialized in brain injury can provide effective and comfortable brain injury rehab to patients suffering from all types and severities of brain injury.

Risk factors

TBI is sustained as a result of external trauma, such as a fall or motor vehicle accident. However, as the CDC explains, certain societal groups are most at risk. According to the data from 2014, the factor that makes you most at risk of sustaining TBI is your age. Also, people in different age groups are at the highest risk of sustaining a different type of TBI.

They found that the highest rate of deaths, hospitalizations, and ED visits was experienced by persons 75 years of age and older - ED visit rates were also highest for children 0-4 years old.

Overall, falls are the leading cause of TBI-related death, hospitalization and ED visits. Adults 55 years of age and older are at the highest risk across all severity levels. However, children aged 0 to 4, and 0 to 17 were also at the highest risk of TBI-related ED visits, and hospitalizations, respectively.

As we age, we are exposed to different environments and our lifestyles change. Therefore, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for persons 15-34 and older adults aged ≥75 years, and of hospitalization for persons aged 15 to 44 years of age. Whereas, children aged 5 to 14 years old experienced the most TBI-related ED visits due to being struck by, or against an object.

Remember, if you need assistance and support with recovering from TBI, regardless of the severity level, contact our TBI rehabilitation center. We are experts in providing physical, emotional and psychological treatments to make your everyday activities easier and more fulfilling.

Learn more about our Brain Injury Rehab!

NeuLife Rehabilitation is one of the LARGEST residential brain injury rehabilitation facilities in the Southeast with specialized rehabilitation programs for a wide range of catastrophic injuries. We are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in Brain Injury Specialty Programs and Residential Rehabilitation. Our skilled clinical experts work with each patient individually to create a customized rehabilitation program best suited to the patient’s needs.

Every day we work with the goal of providing our patients with the highest quality of care. We believe that healing, wellness, and personal fulfillment are best accomplished in a positive and uplifting therapeutic environment where staff encourage, assist, and support all of their patients. And that is what we do!

To learn more about our facility, our staff and our work contact us, or schedule a tour! You can call us at 800-626-3876, or send us an email on info@neuliferehab.com. Find us at 2725 Robie Avenue, Mount Dora, Florida 32757.

The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.  Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.