invisible wounds
By Kelly Rehan
Self Defense
Military service members are accustomed to helping other people. But when it comes to finding help for their own head pain, many don’ t know where to turn.
THE HEALTH RISKS that accompany war don’ t always go away as soon as military service members plant their boots on home soil. Many soldiers suffer head injuries during their tour of duty, which puts them at a high risk for developing migraine and chronic headaches.
Although this pain can cause serious complications if left untreated, some soldiers don’ t seek help for their headaches. Years after returning from the battlefield, many veterans still feel the effects of combat through post-traumatic headache and traumatic brain injury( TBI).
Fortunately, resources are available, and military health professionals are actively researching ways to effectively treat combat-related head injuries so they can improve quality of life for veterans.
TBI IN SOLDIERS
In the first quarter of 2011, more than 9,800 members of the Armed Forces experienced some form of TBI— and about 30,000 military service members suffer a TBI each year— according to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.
“ Most of these injuries are mild TBI, also known as a concussion,” says Lt. Col. Jay Erickson, MD, PhD,
neurologist and assistant chief of neurology at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash.“ Less than 1 percent of TBIs in soldiers are severe TBI.”
But when it comes to head injuries, mild doesn’ t necessarily mean minor. Dr. Erickson has conducted extensive research on headaches in the military. In a study published in the journal Headache in 2010, Erickson and his colleagues found that nearly 20 percent of soldiers returning home from Afghanistan or Iraq experienced a concussion as a result of combat. In addition, they found that more than one in three of these soldiers had post-traumatic headaches, which are more intense than the“ normal” headaches civilians typically experience. More than half( 58 percent) of those post-traumatic headaches were classified as migraine.
HELP FOR HEROES
Whether you are looking to learn more about TBI, find a health care provider or connect with other soldiers, these online resources can help:
• Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center: www. dvbic. org
• NHF’ s War Veterans Resource Initiative: www. headaches. org / warveterans
• The Bob Woodruff Foundation: www. ReMIND. org
22 HEAD WISE | Volume 1, Issue 2 • 2011