Know the Symptoms of Brain Swelling
Swelling is a serious complication of brain injury and can lead to brain damage. But there are other causes of brain swelling as well, so it’s important to know symptoms.
Brain swelling, also known as edema, is a serious health threat, explains the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). When the brain swells, it affects your mental and motor functions—how you think and move. Untreated, brain swelling can lead to severe brain damage and even death.
Causes of Brain Swelling
Swelling results when the amount of fluid in the brain increases, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine. There are many potential causes, from infection to traumatic brain injury. In some cases, the protective layer around the brain ruptures, allowing an influx of fluid. Brain swelling can also be caused by excessive pressure around the brain from an impaired blood flow.
Brain swelling can result from a traumatic injury to the head. And you don't have to be on the sports field to suffer that kind of accident—a slip on a wet kitchen floor or on icy pavement outside your home can do it if you hit your head on the way down. The swelling that results from a significant head trauma can be life-threatening. This pressure needs to be managed and sometimes requires surgery, says David Weintraub, MD, a neurosurgeon and director of functional neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.
Brain swelling can occur in the areas around tumors. "Those are usually managed, temporarily at least and sometimes in the long term, with steroids," Dr. Weintraub explains.
Swelling can often occur after a stroke. "It's a reaction to the dying of the brain in the area of the stroke," he adds. "It's sometimes life-threatening and can require medical management and sometimes surgical management." Swelling can result after both an ischemic stroke, the most common kind, and a hemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke is typically the result of a blood clot blocking an artery in the brain, whereas a hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel ruptures, causing bleeding in the brain.
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Symptoms to Be Aware Of
Brain swelling can cause physical, behavioral and personality changes such as confusion, being unable to speak clearly or feeling disoriented as well as nausea and vomiting. Even mild brain injuries can cause many symptoms. Numbness, dizziness, a lack of coordination and losing your balance easily are some of them. You might feel tired or drowsy and have a hard time getting restful sleep or find yourself sleeping more than normal, according to the Mayo Clinic. Vision problems, headache and a stiff neck are other warning signs. So are mood swings or sudden changes in mood along with sensory changes, like being overly sensitive to noise or light.
A traumatic brain injury can result in a loss of consciousness, which always requires immediate medical help, but you don't have to lose consciousness for a brain injury, and its resulting swelling, to be serious.
Other causes of brain swelling share some of these symptoms, but there may be others as well. For instance, Reye syndrome can cause seizures as well as confusion and a loss of consciousness. With meningitis, you can have a high fever along with confusion, a stiff neck and a persistent headache, according to Mayo.
Only a medical professional can diagnose brain swelling. It's not easy to notice or perceive that your brain feels swollen.
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Dangers of a Brain Injury
Brain swelling is the leading cause of death from a brain injury. Time is critical in treating brain swelling, so you shouldn't wait to see if symptoms appear before seeking help. Sometimes medication can reduce the swelling, but in advanced cases, surgery may be needed to alleviate pressure and excess fluid. Surgery, however, is a last resort.