Pain

For my last post, I thought I would talk about something we recently covered in class, pain.  We talked a lot about the differences in chronic pain and acute pain.  We learned that acute pain is the pain that is associated with something like braking your arm or cutting a finger with a knife.  Acute pain is often easy to diagnose and often straightforward in treatment.  Chronic pain, on the other hand, is more complicated.  Chronic pain can have many causes and be difficult to treat.  Chronic pain can be a pain such as chronic headache or chronic back pain.

Chronic pain often occurs with a traumatic brain injury.  There can be many different types of pain in many different places, and most cases are difficult to find the source and just as difficult to treat.  In certain cases, such as a car accident, the pain can have nothing to do with the brain injury itself, but may be due to a crushed knee that had to be reconstructed after the accident.  Headache is a very common complaint, and can have numerous causes.  In some cases, it could be due to sinus issues that are a direct result of the trauma sustained to the head.

In many cases of head injury, the head is not the only part of the body affected.  Many other parts of the body can sustain trauma and need treatment.  There can be spinal cord injuries and broken bones, internal bleeding and torn ligaments.  So, in many occurrences of brain injury, patients go through both acute and chronic pain.  In addition to both chronic and acute pain, emotional pain can be just as devastating for a person who has received a brain injury.  The loss of functions that were previously taken for granted are a huge blow, such as being able to walk and think normally.  The loss of friends, the loss of a job, and the loss of independence can lead to a devastating depression.

Working with people who can experience pain everyday can be challenging and rewarding.  It's hard to see someone in pain and know that there is nothing one can do, but it's also rewarding to see them have a good time.  In closing, I just want to remind everyone that brain injuries are preventable.  Always wear a helmet when there's a risk of falling, such as on a bike, when snowboarding, or when playing contact sports, always buckle up and make sure everyone in your vehicle is with a proper seat belt, never drive distracted (texting, tweeting, and talking on the phone while driving are bad!!), and never ever drive intoxicated.  These are simple things that can make a world of difference to both you and the ones that care about you.

For more information on prevention of TBI, click here.

To Vote or Not to Vote

One issue I had never considered until November 2nd was how TBI could affect voting.  For many clients, voting is something that just slips off their radar.  But for some, it remains an important civic duty that must be taken seriously.  However, many things can complicate this process.  There's one issue that I don't entirely understand, and that's how legal stuff can impact clients' abilities to vote.  Some of the clients I work with are not legally responsible for themselves.  Another issue is being registered on time.  A lot of clients aren't very good at planning, due to injuries of their prefrontal cortex.  They may forget to register on time or even forget the process altogether.

Another concern that I have but haven't been able to see a whole lot of is convincing clients to vote for a candidate without really exploring their other options.  I have heard rumors and stories about campaigns going to nursing homes and similar establishments and just telling the residents that a particular candidate is the right choice.  I do know that through TBI sometimes the values clients have can change, and sometimes they remain intact.  Some clients are able to stick with the same party both before and after a traumatic brain injury, but sometimes things that happen  can cause changes in the way someone thinks.  Some clients are able to choose the candidates that they would like to endorse, but others often forget names and can become easily confused with the amount of information presented via TV, signs, and even online.  To further complicate matters, it's often difficult to get clients to their voting places.  The vast majority of them are not able to drive, and it can be difficult when a client suddenly decides they would like to go vote, when things need to be scheduled ahead of time.

I myself find voting to be a difficult process on occasion, and I can't imagine trying to do it with a brain injury. However, the feeling of participating in something that could promote change in our country is something that I don't think anyone should be denied.  I know that clients get that same sense of importance, and next time I will know to plan ahead for such an occasion.

Trick or Treat?

With Halloween coming and going and Thanksgiving on the way, this time of the year is filled with a lot of sweet foods.  This can mean a lot of sugar in the form of candy, pies, and other desserts is in abundance.  There are a lot of facts, and also a lot of myths surrounding sugar, and it is pretty easy to get confused about how much is too much or how much is enough.  A lot of the clients that I work with are diabetics and are kept on a diet to control their blood sugars.  This means they do not get candy and rarely get desserts, except when they order them if they go out to eat.  When they do get dessert, it's easy to tell that they really enjoy it.

I recently came across a blog in Psychology Today that talks about the way candy can be good for you, and I was pretty excited because I know I love candy.  It mentions a study done showing that modest candy consumption, such as once to three times a month, is associated with a longer life.  I have candy more than that, so I was relieved to read that it people who ate candy more often lived longer than those who didn't eat candy at all.  The blog also mentions that sugar can help restore willpower, and consuming sugar can help you maintain focus.  In addition, it was found that people who regularly consume chocolate had a lower risk of heart disease, which couldn't be explained by any other factors such as age, sex, calorie intake, smoking, or fruit and vegetable intake, among others.

So this just goes to show that maybe a treat won't be the worst thing for you, of course there is plenty of other research that disagrees, and situations that may not be the best for candy consumption, like diabetes.