Florida Spine & Injury in Ocala Florida Now Offers Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnosis and Treatment

Florida Spine & Injury, based in Ocala, Florida, has announced that they are now offering traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnosis and treatment. This is part of their commitment to serve people injured in a car accident because research has shown that 23 percent of them usually suffer from TBI. Normal CT scans or MRIs of the brain do not necessarily eliminate the possibility of a TBI or concussion. There is no single test yet that can be used to diagnose the presence or absence of TBI conclusively.

Florida Spine & Injury provides a TBI checklist on its website that car accident victims may use to find out if there’s a good chance that they have sustained a TBI and should, therefore, go for an immediate medical checkup. If people have three or more of the symptoms on the list, they should seek medical help immediately. These symptoms include: headache, pressure in the head, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, balance problems, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, feeling slowed down, feeling like in a fog, not feeling right, difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering, fatigue or low energy, confusion, drowsiness, trouble falling asleep, more emotional, irritable, sad, nervous or anxious, and not feeling normal.

The most common type of brain injury experienced by car accident victims is whiplash, which is the result of the head and heck having been thrown back and forth rapidly as a result of a collision. TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe.

The TBI diagnostic testing offered by Florida Spine & Injury is designed to assess potential problems with brain function, instead of structure. This is done by examining various factors, such as eye movements, memory, brain waves, balance, reaction time, sleep problems, and more. Thus, the tests they conduct include the electroencephalogram (EEG), oculomotor tracking, video nystagmography (VNG), computerized balance testing, home sleep study, olfactory testing, and autonomic nervous system testing.

EEG testing is used to examine the electrical activity in the brain. A study published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology has revealed that EEG could be used to differentiate TBI from post-traumatic stress disorder effectively. It can also be used to examine how the brain responds to auditory and visual stimuli to detect any abnormalities in function.

Oculomotor tracking shows what the eye is following. This may be used to detect TBI because one of the typical symptoms is disrupted communication between the brain and the eyes. With TBI, the eyes do not follow objects appropriately as the person moves the head or as objects move in the visual field.

VNG testing makes use of small infrared cameras within a headset to record subtle eye movements that can often be affected as a result of TBI. This is an FDA approved technology that allows them to graph the eye movements and then compare them with the graphs of healthy subjects, thus offering compelling objective data for TBI.

The sense of smell may also be affected by TBI, which is why they use olfactory testing. Many patients with TBI have reported changes in their ability to smell or taste, which is usually caused by damage to those areas of the brain that control such functions. Thus, Florida Spine & Injury’s in-office olfactory testing can be used to understand better what specific areas of the brain have been affected.

TBI patients have also reported reduced balance and loss of coordination because injury to the brain may affect communication with the inner ear, including the eyes, resulting in a sensory mismatch that usually results in balance dysfunction, vertigo, or dizziness. Florida Spine & Injury uses computerized dynamic posturography, which measures the amount of loss of equilibrium and sway that is experienced by a patient.

To help patients with TBI, Florida Spine & Injury offers several therapies. These include Alpha stim, which makes use of small clips to the earlobes to increase alpha waves; vagus nerve stimulation; exercise with oxygen; sensory-motor integration; oculomotor rehabilitation; cognitive rehabilitation; heart rate variability biofeedback; and infrared photobiomodulation.

Those who would like to learn more about the TBI diagnosis and treatment services provided by Florida Spine & Injury may want to check out their website at https://www.flspineandinjury.com/traumatic-brain-injury or contact them through the telephone, or email.