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Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffPatience is the key to coping with brain injuries. Adults will experience the majority of their recovery during the first six months. You may continue to experience smaller, more gradual improvements for up to two years after the hematoma. Children often recover faster and more completely than adults do.
The following tips may help make for a smoother recovery:
- Get adequate sleep at night, and rest in the daytime whenever you feel tired.
- When you're feeling stronger, begin easing back into your normal activities. Don't try to do everything at once.
- Until you get your doctor's OK, don't participate in contact and recreational sports. Avoiding a second injury is crucial.
- After a brain injury, you're reaction times will likely have slowed. Check with your doctor before you begin driving, playing sports, riding a bicycle or operating heavy machinery.
- If you need to take medication, check with your doctor first.
- Don't drink alcohol until you've recovered fully. Alcohol may hinder the recovery process. Excess alcohol consumption can increase your risk of a second injury.
- Write down things that you have trouble recalling.
- Talk with family or close friends before making any important decisions.
- Traumatic brain injury: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm. Accessed May 9, 2009.
- Traumatic brain injury. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec21/ch310/ch310a.html#S21_CH310_T001. Accessed May 11, 2009.
- Smith ML, et al. Neurosurgery. In: Brunicardi FC, et al. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. 8th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, Medical; 2005. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=820106. Accessed May 8, 2009.
- Facts about concussion and brain injury. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/tbibook.pdf. Accessed May 8, 2009.
- Moulton RJ, et al. Head injury and intracranial hypertension. In: Hall JB, et al. Principles of Critical Care. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, Medical; 2005. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2297849. Accessed May 8, 2009.
- Ropper AH. Concussion and other head injuries. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2904523. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Rordorf G. Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: Pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index/home.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
