Brain Injury Treatment Types

Various treatments can help a person with a brain injury recover, reduce, or eliminate their physical, emotional, and cognitive problems. Specific treatments including type, setting, and length of treatment depend on the severity of the brain injury and the area of the brain that was injured.

Anti-anxiety medication to lessen feelings of nervousness and fear;

Anticoagulants to prevent blood clots and improve blood flow;

Anticonvulsants to prevent seizures;

Antidepressants to treat symptoms of depression and mood instability, also called mood swings;

Computerized Tomography Scan or CT scan to look for signs of a brain injury;

Complete Rest and slow return to normal activities;

Diuretics to help remove fluid that can increase pressure inside the brain;

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) measures the level of consciousness based on eye-opening to appropriate stimuli, motor responsiveness, and verbal performance;

Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI to obtain a detailed image of the brain;

Muscle relaxants to reduce muscle spasms and to relax constricted muscles;

Neurological Exam to test for motor and sensory skills, hearing and speech, coordination and balance, and mood and behavior;

Repairing skull fractures; For most skull fractures, treatment consists of close observation in the hospital and medication to relieve pain during the healing process. However, some skull fractures require surgery.

Repetitious Exercise; A type of physical activity that involves planned, structured, and repetitive bodily movement done to maintain or improve one or more components of physical fitness.

Relieving pressure inside the skull;

Stimulants to increase alertness and attention;

Surgical removal of blood clots or pools;

Vision Therapy to help treat the effects of brain injury and teach the injured brain new ways to compensate for vision problems;