Brain Injury Awareness Week: 8-14 May 2017

This year Headway’s Action for Brain Injury Week focuses on “Life After a Brain Injury”

Headway’s “A NewMe” encourages those who are suffering from acquired brain injuries and those who support them, to share how their brain injury has affected their lives.

Read Lee’s poem and Anna’s letter to her new brain.

A brain injury can change a person’s sense of self in many ways and the immediate aftermath of any traumatic brain injury can be an incredibly difficult period in the life of the sufferer and his or her family. These are stories of hope: with the right support and rehabilitation there is life after a brain injury.

By raising awareness with #ABIWeek, Headway continues it excellent work to support and assist those who are suffering from a brain injury to help them get the right rehabilitation and put them in touch with the all so important local support groups.

James Cracknell double Olympic Gold medallist spoke along his wife Beverly Turner and the CEO of Headway Mr Peter McCabe with Kay Burley on Sky News this week to talk about his 7 year journey of recovery

How does a Brain Injury affect daily living?

Whether it is a graze or a bump or a serious blow to the head causing internal damage to the brain, head injuries are often undiagnosed or untreated.

The symptoms do vary from person to person. An individual can suffer from fits or seizures, loss of smell, difficulty speaking, walking, general coordination, irrational behaviour and lack of empathy for those around them.

One of the most devastating after effects is memory loss. The damaged brain finds it difficult to recall previous memories and has difficulty storing new ones.

An analogy often used of the injured brain is that of a filing cabinet which has been emptied out and the brain has to try and re-file everything in the right order.

The brain will always work to reorganise itself and often creates a diversion around broken or blocked neural pathways. The result of this is that it may take longer for the information to travel along the pathways resulting in a slowing down of mental or cognitive functions.

Treatment: Life After a Brain Injury

The earlier the treatment the better. The family of the injured person is often at the forefront of arranging this and supporting the professionals. Treatment varies but may include speech and language therapy (SALT) to help regain communication skills. There may be physiotherapy to assist with learning or relearning the use of physical limbs.

Headway

To find out more about the essential work that Headway does in supporting those with a brain injury visit : https://www.headway.org.uk/