Table of Contents
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY -FORT WORTH TX
There are a large number of traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases in the Fort Worth TX area. All brain injuries could be considered traumatic brain injury and that is why if you feel you’ve had or have a brain injury then you will want to look into brain injury rehabilitation
What Are The Most Common Symptoms Of A Traumatic Brain Injury?
The list of traumatic brain injury symptoms would be almost too long to list. Unfortunately, TBI symptoms may not show up right after the injury. In addition, if the brain injury is sustained by a young child they may not be able to communicate that they are having an issue.
The obvious symptoms are headache, bleeding from the ear or nose, dizziness, loss of consciousness, slurred speech, disoriented, loss of memory. Some of the lessor recognizable symptoms could be mood swings, personality changes (often could be attributed to something like just having a bad day so not as easy to recognize).
Feeling depressed or anxious, dilated pupils, change in vision, appetite, upset stomach, and more.
Traumatic Brain Injuries Can Occur In All Parts Of Your Brain
As you can see, the symptoms listed above can be caused by any number of things from the common flu to food poisoning. But if a person experienced head trauma, even if to them it seemed slight, these symptoms could be a symptom of a traumatic brain injury.
Fort Worth Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic
TBI rehabilitation is often done as a residence at a clinic. You can expect to have a team of physical therapists and occupational therapists, as well as your brain injury Medical doctors, to all play a very important role in your recovery. Your level of recovery will vary.
What Is The Difference Between Acquired Brain Injury and TBI?
TBI and ABI often cause confusion because they both deal with the head not functioning properly. Adult survivors of TBI are typically caused by an external force (for example, a fall at work, a soccer accident, or a football head injury.)
ABI is when the ‘gray matter” is not working properly due to injuries not caused by external forces. For example a stroke, tumor, lack of oxygen, or an infection.
What Is A Physical Therapist’s Role In Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation?
A physical therapist’s role is to give you physical therapy:
- Be your movement expert
- Regain your physical functions
- Help relearn daily tasks
- Physical therapists
- Restore fitness and wellness
- Help improve quality of life
- Hands-on care.
- Enhance Traumatic Brain Injury Education
What Is An Occupational Therapist’s Role When You Have A Brain Injury?
The ultimate goal of the occupational therapist in Dallas Tx or Ft. Worth Tx is to help in a number of ways including, but not limited to:
- Provide education for the person with a brain injury to regain functional independent living skills.
- Help you discover deficits and help you regain those skills.
- Help with sensory processing, emotional regulating, psychological functions, cognitive functions including memory, and more.
- Additional items an occupational therapist in Dallas or Ft. Worth will help with are:
- Relearning your ability to eat and swallow
- Work with you to do drills to improve your thinking skills
- Daily routines such as grooming, bathing, and dressing
- Motor skills required to be able to use the toilet
- Medical equipment training
- If you need a wheelchair, they will teach you how to use it properly and safely
- The skill of getting in and out of beds, chairs, bathtubs, etc…
- Focus & Vision training (restoration of normal vision)
- Driving skills
- Home management skills (shopping, cooking, money management)
- Fine motor skills, such as zipping pants, buttoning a shirt, putting away dishes.
- Additional items an occupational therapist in Dallas or Ft. Worth will help with are:
Inpatient Brain Injury Rehabilitation In Fort Worth & Dallas
Brain injury patients in the Dallas/Fort Worth Tx area have a large number of head injury centers to choose from, as well as a number of sources to help patients recover.
Physical therapy services, group therapy services, and occupational therapy services are all specialized high contact care services designed to get better outcomes by enhancing neuro skills for daily living.
Families should stay in contact with healthcare physicians to assist in sharing if they notice additional illness, disabilities, or other downturns in neuro skills, other than the disabilities already known. Patients need a community to support them in addition to just family because disability impacts health physically and emotionally.
Hospitals have resources to support health, but resources like a home health program help individuals access community interaction and stay in contact with people other than family, which is great support. Dallas has several rehabilitation services for patients.
You don’t have to only contact a ‘traditional hospital’ for healthcare with your disabilities because you can contact resources in Dallas Texas like rehabilitation centers, and an institute for rehabilitation for support. The brain injury network is another source.
Insurance may often cover parts of the rehabilitation program, but a hospital rehabilitation facility is often not as inviting of a community as a specialized institute for rehabilitation.
Often an institute for rehabilitation will have customized community support mechanisms, and will coordinate a home health program with services specific to your needs.
Multidisciplinary Team Treatment or An Interdisciplinary Team Treatment Plan?
According to Physiopedia, here are the differences regarding the medical professionals between a multidisciplinary team (MDT) and an interdisciplinary team (IDT).
What Is A TBI Multidisciplinary Approach Mean?
The treatment & care for patients’ neurological disorders require specialized care of a dedicated professional team of providers and specialists. This is often called the MDT or multidisciplinary team. An MDT can include, but is not limited to the following providers and specialists:
- Physiatrist
- Neurologist
- Case Manager/Social Worker
- Neuropsychologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Rehabilitation Psychologist
- Social workers
What Does An Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) Approach Mean?
The IDT is a mixture of people all coordinating and focused on providing the brain injury client with the best chances to rehabilitate and achieve the highest quality of life possible given their brain injury. Just like an MDT, there is not a rigid rule that says you must have a specific set of professionals. See common team members below:
- Family & Friends
- Case Manager
- Neurosurgeon
- Neuropsychiatrist
- Rehabilitation Trained Nurse / Professional Care
- Physiotherapist
- Rehabilitation Medicine Physician
- Vocational Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Neurologist
- Pain Management Doctor
- Speech and Language Therapist
- Neuropsychologist
Inpatient Rehab For TBI
Inpatient rehab treatment allows for a concentrated effort for the patients’ care from the core therapies (speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists & more) to be provided for people while overseen by a qualified physician and being cared for by qualified nursing staff.
Research has shown that inpatient rehab has increased the likelihood of the brain injured person being able to return home and decreases the risk of mortality due to the injury.
Outpatient Rehab for TBI in Tx
The outpatient services treatment is essentially long-term services of an ongoing treatment plan consisting of IDT or MDT providing you care, but after you complete your care for the day then you are able to return home. The sense of independence and getting back to the quality of life the person wants comes from the proper timing of moving to the outpatient services but keeping a close watch for any potential setbacks.
How To Choose The Right TBI Treatment Rehabilitation Center
Do the research, and do your best not to let the location be the main factor because if the best place is on the other side of the country then you will want to go there for the patient because we are talking about the quality of the rest of their life – right?
Fort Worth Texas has several locations to choose from. The way to narrow them down is to be sure they have a complete team of professionals.
In addition, you will want a location that is constantly providing the most up-to-date and cutting-edge treatment options. The CARF accreditation is a way to know if the location is constantly improving.
The CARF certification is difficult to achieve and only the most dedicating in the industry typically will have this rating.
