Dr. Andy Galpin

Typically, we've been told that when you have some sort of injury, you have to go through this whiplash experience. So you have to say a sudden stop, your brain inside your skull continues to travel and then smashes up against your skull, and then therefore has a bruise on the brain. And while that certainly can happen, that's actually probably pretty unlikely.

Typically, we've been told that when you have some sort of injury, you have to go through this whiplash experience. So you have to say a sudden stop, your brain inside your skull continues to travel and then smashes up against your skull, and then therefore has a bruise on the brain. And while that certainly can happen, that's actually probably pretty unlikely.

Generally, what's going to happen if that occurred is you would see the injury site being on the outside. So you can imagine, let's just say the front of your brain smashes into the front of your skull. You would expect the injury to be right on the front, on the outside part of your brain. The reality of it is that's not where most... Concussions and TBIs occur.

Generally, what's going to happen if that occurred is you would see the injury site being on the outside. So you can imagine, let's just say the front of your brain smashes into the front of your skull. You would expect the injury to be right on the front, on the outside part of your brain. The reality of it is that's not where most... Concussions and TBIs occur.

It generally happens more towards the middle of the brain. Remember, the outside of the brain is where your gray matter is. That's mostly where your neurons are. On the inside is the white matter that's made of mostly fat, and it helps you conduct messages more quickly throughout the brain. See, what typically happens in brain injuries is you get more of what I call the accordion effect.

It generally happens more towards the middle of the brain. Remember, the outside of the brain is where your gray matter is. That's mostly where your neurons are. On the inside is the white matter that's made of mostly fat, and it helps you conduct messages more quickly throughout the brain. See, what typically happens in brain injuries is you get more of what I call the accordion effect.

And so you have so much fluid in your brain that if you were to slosh it around a little bit, there's not much room to slosh. And so it protects your brain from hitting the skull. But what can happen though is an intense pressure inside the tissue because it squeezes together and then gets expanded back out.

And so you have so much fluid in your brain that if you were to slosh it around a little bit, there's not much room to slosh. And so it protects your brain from hitting the skull. But what can happen though is an intense pressure inside the tissue because it squeezes together and then gets expanded back out.

Picture the accordion here, me taking my two hands, putting them closer together, smashing it, pulling it back apart. And so you have this kind of egg-looking oval that is supposed to be your brain, and it gets smashed down into a vertical piece of paper, and then extended way back out and stretched, and so on and so forth.

Picture the accordion here, me taking my two hands, putting them closer together, smashing it, pulling it back apart. And so you have this kind of egg-looking oval that is supposed to be your brain, and it gets smashed down into a vertical piece of paper, and then extended way back out and stretched, and so on and so forth.

So it's not the actual connection or contact to the skull that is always the issue. Sometimes it's that stretching and pulling and that pressure wave that causes the damage on the interior or various portions of the brain. And so the injuries are highly varied in the brain. It can be everything from a capillary or blood flow supply that is damaged or torn. The axon themselves can be torn.

So it's not the actual connection or contact to the skull that is always the issue. Sometimes it's that stretching and pulling and that pressure wave that causes the damage on the interior or various portions of the brain. And so the injuries are highly varied in the brain. It can be everything from a capillary or blood flow supply that is damaged or torn. The axon themselves can be torn.

This then causes a host of issues that we'll get into step by step. But it's everything from temperature problems, energy problems, metabolism problems, inflammation, and physical structural damage. So many different options that can occur, but that's basically what happens for most, but not all. This is obviously a complicated area. I don't mean to oversimplify it.

This then causes a host of issues that we'll get into step by step. But it's everything from temperature problems, energy problems, metabolism problems, inflammation, and physical structural damage. So many different options that can occur, but that's basically what happens for most, but not all. This is obviously a complicated area. I don't mean to oversimplify it.

depending on if you had a single event, say a car crash or a single slip and fall, or numerous sub-concussive events. Think of blast injuries in folks in the military, small impacts with combat athletes or other people in professions that kind of bang their head a little bit, don't necessarily get huge symptoms, but they have a lot of these stack over time. All of it results in different problems.

depending on if you had a single event, say a car crash or a single slip and fall, or numerous sub-concussive events. Think of blast injuries in folks in the military, small impacts with combat athletes or other people in professions that kind of bang their head a little bit, don't necessarily get huge symptoms, but they have a lot of these stack over time. All of it results in different problems.

I'm just trying to highlight a small example of what it can look like as a quick overview. That being said, there are some generalities and commonalities between different forms of TBIs, and I'll just cover them broadly right now. The top of our list here is what's called comprised excitotoxicity.

I'm just trying to highlight a small example of what it can look like as a quick overview. That being said, there are some generalities and commonalities between different forms of TBIs, and I'll just cover them broadly right now. The top of our list here is what's called comprised excitotoxicity.

I'll explain what that means later, but this is arguably one of the bigger problems you will experience. There are ionic disturbances, so your positive and negative charges get all messed up. There are blood flow to the brain that's called cerebral blood flow, edemas and swellings, oxidative stress, inflammation.

I'll explain what that means later, but this is arguably one of the bigger problems you will experience. There are ionic disturbances, so your positive and negative charges get all messed up. There are blood flow to the brain that's called cerebral blood flow, edemas and swellings, oxidative stress, inflammation.