Soldiers are high-risk group for concussions
The number of head injuries coming from combat zones has lessened, but brain injury remains a concern, members of a Fort Bragg panel said Thursday.
"Concussion is common," Dr. Steven C. Lewis said. "It's not catastrophic. Ninety to 95 percent of people will completely recover from concussion within a month, probably within a week."
Lewis, a neurologist, is chief of the department of brain injury medicine and site director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Womack Army Medical Center.
"Your maximum opportunity to recover is to be seen early for educational purposes and to have your activities limited," Lewis said.
"Having a concussion is almost like having the flu. It's not real smart to go try to do a 12-mile ruck march or do combatives or some active physical task while you are in acute stages of concussion. You are more likely to sustain a concussion if you are recovering from a first concussion."
He made the comments during and after a Brain Injury Awareness Month discussion panel at Womack Army Medical Center. March is National Brain Injury Awareness month.
Soldiers, who tend to be physically active individuals, have a high risk of having a concussion in the Army or before they join, he said.
About 80 percent of military brain injuries happen on military bases in the United States rather than bomb blasts overseas, Lewis said. Causes can include falls, fights, sports and motor vehicle injuries.
"There's a lot of training that goes on here with the paratroopers jumping out of airplanes," Lewis said. "It's an activity that can be prone to concussion. With deployments, they are prone to concussion."
1,200 patients
Lewis's clinic saw about 1,200 patients during the past year, he said. Some people require only a single visit. An average of 100 patients with severe symptoms are enrolled in neurorehabilitation, a three- to four-month program, he said.
"Natural recovery from mild head injury is almost complete in almost everybody," Dr. Alan G. Finkel said.
Finkel is a neurologist.
Athletes and service members are often driven and highly motivated to return to physical activity, he said.
"The most important thing we can do is sit down and explain the expectations and to ask them to avoid activities that make them worse," Finkel said.
Brain Injury Awareness Day will be held Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
A bipartisan group of more than 120 congressmen is focused on brain injury policy on Capitol Hill.
About 360,000 people are estimated to have been inflicted by a traumatic brain injury in Iraq and Afghanistan, the congressional task force said.
About 1.4 million people in the United States experience traumatic brain injury annually and about 3.2 million are living with long-term, severe disabilities as a result of brain injury, according to the task force.
