About Contusion (Concussion) !

Iryna Kopanytsia

Many people don’t know what a concussion really is, don’t understand its consequences, and don’t realize what lies ahead for those affected.

The Paradoxes of Concussion:

• Severe concussions often lead to fewer long-term consequences because they are treated promptly and more thoroughly.

• Standard MRI and CT scans typically do not detect a concussion.
Advanced diagnostic tools, such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), can reveal axonal injuries. However, DTI is not widely available in Ukraine, and not for military personnel

• The damage progresses over time. The processes in the brain don’t stop immediately after the explosion; it continue to develop.

Concussion, or blast injury, is trauma caused by a shockwave.

It’s a molecular-level disturbance of the brain — a shakeup on the scale of molecules and cells.

At least four physical processes occur in the brain:

1. Cavitation: Think of the bubbles you’ve seen behind a ship’s propeller (like in Titanic). That’s cavitation. Now imagine this happening inside the brain. The shockwave passes, and bubbles form in the brain tissue.

2. Hydrodynamic impact: Remember throwing water balloons as a child and seeing how they deformed? The brain deforms in a similar way upon impact.

3. Countercoup injury: Imagine shaking a raw egg. The yolk crashes against the shell’s walls. In the brain, this happens on a cellular level, involving every neuron.

4. Electromagnetic radiation (heat) + gas denaturation of proteins: The brain contains proteins that can be irreversibly altered by heat, just like the difference between raw and boiled egg whites. Once this denaturation occurs, it cannot be undone.

The Reality of Treatment

Concussions are often “treated” in just one week, after which soldiers are sent back to the front. But their brains are not capable to handle sleep deprivation, emotional stress, or loud noises.

This poses a threat not only to the affected soldiers themselves but also to their comrades.

Sending someone to the front line in this condition is like sending someone under the influence of drugs—it’s even worse because doctors declare them “healthy.”

Who Notices the Problem?

People unfamiliar with the condition or unobservant of their own brain health may not even recognize these issues.

The lower the level of education, the harder it is to notice:
• People with less education are less likely to perceive memory loss or cognitive decline.
• Doctors often fail to diagnose these subtle yet significant issues.

Aggression, panic, and nightmares? These are written off as the inevitable consequences of war. But the truth is much deeper and more devastating.

What does a concussion damage in the brain?

1. The electrical network:
• The shockwave tears apart axons, the brain’s electrical “cables.”
• Axons connect different regions and hemispheres of the brain. Imagine a power plant generating electricity, but the lines to distribute it are cut or short-circuited.
• This leads to severe issues like headaches, panic attacks, aggression, loss of coordination (due to damage to the vestibular system), hallucinations, déjà vu, and dissociation from reality.

2. Circulation issues:
• A concussion can cause something akin to a brain-wide stroke, damaging the smallest capillaries. While not always immediately visible, this can have widespread effects.

3. Disruption of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics:
• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows in the space between the brain and the skull and within the brain’s ventricles.
• Its pulsation is critical for intracranial pressure and electrolyte balance. Disruptions cause headaches, panic attacks, memory problems, and more.

4. Formation of scars and adhesions in the brain:
• These impair neural signaling, slowing down cognitive processes and decision-making.

5. Autoneurosensitization:

• Increased sensitivity to stimuli can cause panic, aggression, tremors, nightmares and loss of consciousness triggered by sounds.
• This condition leads to dangerous consequences, including suicides and violence.

6. Other “minor” issues that are often overlooked but critical:
• Hearing loss,
• Loss of coordination,
• Retinal detachment.

Iryna KopanytsiaIryna : Advocacy; International communication specialist; Mental health advocate. Psychological rehabilitation innovative scientific methods; White Ribbon Ukraine/ USA, Iryna is the correspondent of Mahabahu

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