The term ‘traumatic brain injury’ might sound somewhat scary. You may wonder: ‘Does this mean that I am brain damaged?’.
First of all, not everyone with a head injury has actually suffered a brain injury. If there was no unconsciousness or memory loss after the accident, there most likely wasn’t any injury to the brain.
And even if there was a short period of unconsciousness or memory loss after the accident, classifying your injury as a ‘mild traumatic brain injury’, this means that there was a temporary loss of brain function and it is highly unlikely that there is going to be long-term damage to your brain.
> Read more about how mild head injury is diagnosed
In this video, Professor Alan Carson talks about the causes of symptoms after a head injury:
The long-term outlook is good. In the overwhelming majority of cases, symptoms settle within three months after the injury. Any symptoms that you may experience afterwards, are not caused by brain damage, but may be caused by a number of other factors.
> Read more about expected outcomes
Furthermore, a head injury does not increase your risk of developing dementia (Alzheimer’s disease).
Head Injury Symptoms 