Traumatic brain injuries affect people in different ways, but injuries to certain areas of the brain can express some similar characteristics and symptoms. In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at what happens if you suffer a head injury to your frontal lobe, and how these types of injuries are treated.

Your Frontal Lobe

Let’s do a quick anatomy lesson before we get specific about injuries to the frontal lobe. Your brain is divided into several different lobes. You have the:

• Frontal Lobe
• Limbic Lobes
• Occipital Lobe
• Parietal Lobe

Each of these lobes controls different functions inside your body, and we’ll go into more detail about other areas in different blogs, but let’s focus on the frontal lobe. Your frontal lobe controls a number of vital functions, including coordination, reasoning, brain processing, language interpretation, expression of emotions and elements of your personality. We use all of these functions in everyday life, and while the frontal lobe doesn’t control all these factors on its own, it’s clear to see that an injury to the area could disrupt any number of essential processes.

Frontal Lobe TBI and Treatment

As we noted above, not everyone will experience the same symptoms after a frontal lobe TBI injury. Aside from the uniqueness of the injury itself, there’s another factor that influences symptom expression and severity – your age. Since your brain is still developing into your 20’s, injuries during this crucial time could be even more severe.

Some of the more common symptoms someone might experience during a frontal lobe injury include:

• Changes in behavior
• Decreased impulse control
• Mood changes
• Memory loss
• Confusion
• Inability to understand or comprehend
• Loss of empathic reasoning
• Headaches
• Impaired judgment
• Loss of coordination or balance

Treating frontal lobe injuries aren’t easy, because everyone responds differently. The key is for both the patient and their family to have patience. Full recovery can take weeks, months, years or may never occur, so you need to be patient and take pride in the progress being made. It also may not be easy. For individuals with minor injuries, rest may be the best option, but for individuals with severe front lobe injuries, they may need to relearn a number of social skills. Behaviors and emotions may be different, but it’s important to work with your friends and family members to give them the best chance at a full recovery.

If you or someone you know has suffered a front lobe injury or another type of head injury, consider setting up an appointment with a neurologist. We’ll be able to scan your head and see exactly what’s going on in order to get a better understanding of which areas of your brain are affected. We can also walk your through some treatment options, and we’ll be with you every step of the way on your road to recovery. For more information about our services, contact Dr. Chang’s office today.