December 13, 2016

Trying to Recover from a TBI? What Reading, Stress, and Exercise All Have in Common During the Healing Process

When recovering from a traumatic brain injury, you may have trouble performing normal or routine activities. During the healing process, activities like exercise and reading, and common ailments such as stress, all play a role. Reading, exercise, and stress represent the cognitive, physical, and emotional aspects affected by a traumatic brain injury.

Reading (Cognition and Information Processing):

A simple task such as reading can become difficult after a traumatic brain injury and during the recovery process. These can stem from difficulty to concentrate and memory impairment. Dizziness and vision problems can also cause issues while reading. Eye movement and eye tracking disorders are highly associated with brain injuries and make it difficult to follow or “track” words on a page. The process for recovery and regaining the improving the ability to read revolves around “waking up” or creating new neuropathways for the brain, if the previous ones were damaged or forgotten due to the injury.

Exercise (Physical Aspects):

The physical result from a traumatic brain injury may not be overt. Even if the injury was solely to the head, with no other injuries to the rest of the body, the patient may find it difficult to complete simple physical exercises. Some common symptoms of a brain injury are headaches, nausea and dizziness, or inability to balance. These all stem from a neurological injury, but the physical results are just as real. The treatment and healing process for these symptoms revolve around the vestibular system to restore balance and vision.

Stress (Emotion and Social):

Recovering from a traumatic brain injury can be stressful due to inability to perform tasks that you once could or the overall experience, but there are also symptoms that can come as a result. Increased anxiety or depression can be both an emotional and physical response. While many mental health issues may currently be helped by medicine, solutions can be found through improving the brain.

The healing process during a traumatic brain injury can be taxing on the mind, body and relationships with those around you. It is important to know your limits and that there is hope for small victories in your recovery process.

Sources:

Plasticity Centers ©