Brain stem injuries can alter your everyday existence. The brain stem must operate correctly for you to move around and function in the world. If you sustain a brain stem injury, you might lose consciousness and not regain it again.
The doctors call that brain stem death. If it happens, you can’t breathe on your own. At that point, a machine must breathe for you. You’re effectively on life support.
Brain stem injuries can permanently change your life, even if they’re not so extreme that a doctor gives you a brain stem death diagnosis. Even relatively minor ones sometimes mean that the brain can’t send your body the messages it needs.
Brain stem injuries often mean you can’t control your body’s functions. Maybe you can’t control your bowels or your limbs.
You can imagine how much brain stem injuries matter if you discuss them in this context. Now, let’s talk about some of thecommon ways they occur.
1. Car Accidents
You might see car accidents and their effects some days while out on the road. Maybe you’ll see a fender bender. That’s a relatively minor car wreck, and someone might walk away with only superficial injuries.
You may sometimes see a very serious one as well. As you’re driving along the highway, you might see state troopers and a traffic slowdown. You may notice wreckage scattered all along the roadway.
In these situations, it’s likely a more serious injury has occurred, or even some motorist deaths. If a vehicle hits another while traveling at higher speeds, like the cars on the highway, someone might damage their brain stem that way.
How fast you’re moving matters in car wrecks, but also how a vehicle hits you. If you’re in a fender bender, something like whiplash might happen, but a brain stem injury isn’t very likely. These injuries will often happen if another car T-bones you or you’re in a head-to-head collision.
If your car flips over and rolls down an embankment or slides along the ground before hitting an inanimate object, that might cause a brain stem injury as well. The faster you’re going and the more violent the collision, the more likely you’ll sustain a potentially devastating brain stem injury or other catastrophic damage.
Some people who sustain brain stem injuries in serious car wrecks never wake up. They’re technically still alive, but perhaps they can’t breathe on their own anymore.
If this happens, your next of kin might keep you alive if you stipulated you want that. If you signed something saying you would prefer that they take you off of life support in this kind of situation, they will probably do that. It’s very hard on them, but you might sign something saying you’d prefer that. Many people do.
2. Sports Injuries
You might play a competitive sport, like football, soccer, or hockey. Maybe you play professionally, or perhaps you play for fun. You may join an amateur league and play because you love it and have a competitive spirit.
Whether you play sports professionally or as an amateur, you can sustain a brain stem injury if you’re in a violent collision. If you play something like football, you will likely wear a helmet and pads. If you’re playing tackle football with friends in the park, though, maybe you’re not wearing the right protective gear.
Frankly, a sport like football has such violent rules that even if you’re wearing a helmet and pads, you can still suffer serious injuries. If you watch the NFL or one of the other sports leagues, you might see someone leave the field on a stretcher multiple times every season. Injuries occur every game, some of them serious.
If you sustain a brain stem injury while playing sports, maybe it’s because someone got overzealous and hit you too hard, or perhaps you just got unlucky. If someone hits you just right, and you land awkwardly, you can hurt your brain stem.
3. Workplace Accidents
You can also sustain a serious brain stem injury in the workplace. If you work in an office building, that probably won’t happen unless something very unexpected occurs. If you work in the construction industry or something along those lines, these injuries become much more likely.
You might like working in construction because you’re outside in the elements. You’re working with your hands. However, you might fall if you’re up on the high steel. Something might fall on you, or maybe
you’ll have an accident with a bulldozer or some other heavy machinery.
Some professions have a high mortality rate. If you work in one of these industries, you might not die if an accident occurs, but you might damage your brain stem. If so, hopefully it’s not a catastrophic injury, and you can regain consciousness and resume some semblance of your normal life.
4. Natural Disasters
You might sustain a serious brain stem injury during a natural disaster. Maybe you’re in a tornado or an area where a typhoon hits. An earthquake might also hurt you in this way.
During these events, you might run for your life without any plan at all. In the chaos, the wind or water might hurl you against something, or maybe something will strike you.
Afterward, you might not even remember exactly what happened. You’ll feel the results, though. You might live with a brain stem injury from that day forward. Hopefully, it’s not too severe, and you can still have a decent quality of life.
You can probably think of many other incidents and accidents that can damage your brain stem. If that happens, you might regain consciousness and most of your abilities, but if so, you’re lucky. The brain stem controls our most sensitive and crucial functions. That’s why even a little damage can impact your life so severely.
You should exercise caution in life. In this way, you might avoid the worst brain stem injuries. Sometimes, though, accidents occur even if you’re careful.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
