Traumatic Brain Injuries in Women

Did you know sex workers and victims of intimate partner violence are at very high risk of traumatic brain injuries and subsequently Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

We do not give enough attention to traumatic brain injuries, especially in females. Females are more likely to have more severe and persistent disturbances following head injuries. There are many interventions to do after a head injury to reduce risk down the line for people. If you hit your head, please see a concussion specialist or at least a neurologist. And please no chiropractor! Also, if your CT or MRI was negative for abnormal findings does not mean there is an absence of a concussion. This is such a pet peeve of mine. So many people are told in the ER that there's no concussion due to imaging, but a CT only picks up on 10% of concussions and MRI only picks up on 30% of concussions not seen on CT. Neither are sensitive or specific tests and the consequences of a head injury can be so impactful in the short and long term, you do not want to miss it!

In the short term, 29-90% of patients with traumatic brain injury will experience post concussion syndrome, the most common symptoms being:

headache

vertigo

insomnia

irritability/decreased frustration tolerance

slowed thinking

word finding difficulty

personality change

anxiety

depression

PTSD

I really like the Ohio State University TBI tool for screening.

https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/neurological-institute/neuroscience-research-institute/research-centers/ohio-valley-center-for-brain-injury-prevention-and-rehabilitation/osu-tbi-id OSU TBD ID I Ohio State Brain Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation

It’s especially important for people with ADHD who are more prone to accidents and TBIs. In all seriousness though, during training I had a number of patients who had these kind of experiences (sex work and intimate partner violence) and were really quite volatile who were diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. When I worked in homeless outreach, I realized that this volatility was probably not borderline personality disorder at all, but consequences of multiple untreated traumatic brain injuries sustained episodically over many years. The head injuries being close together without recovery or treatment are other risks for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. I’m amazed that we can have all this TBI research on football players and simply forget that women exist?

#mentalhealth #women #momlife #borderlinepersonalitydisorder #borderline #tbi #adhd

I'm surprised and not surprised how hard it was to find a stock image of a head injury in a woman! Proving my point more so!. I had to look up headache to find stock images of women. Headaches are a common symptom of post concussion syndrome.