Education
Learn About Traumatic Brain Injury
Plain-language, family-friendly explanations of TBI — built from trusted medical sources and reviewed for clarity.
Core topics
Start here. Each card pulls from the most trusted sources in brain injury medicine.
What is a TBI?
A traumatic brain injury occurs when a sudden trauma — such as a blow, jolt, or penetrating object — disrupts the brain's normal function. Severity ranges from mild concussion to life-threatening.
Source: CDC
Warning Symptoms
Loss of consciousness, persistent headache, confusion, slurred speech, repeated vomiting, seizures, dilated pupils, or weakness on one side of the body all require immediate medical attention.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Types of TBI
Concussion (mild TBI), contusion, diffuse axonal injury, coup-contrecoup, second impact syndrome, and penetrating injury — each affects the brain differently and requires different care.
Source: BIAA
Stages of Recovery
Acute care, post-acute rehabilitation, community re-entry, and long-term adjustment. Recovery is rarely linear — progress, plateau, and setbacks are all normal.
Source: NIH
Mild vs. Moderate vs. Severe
Severity is measured by the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), duration of loss of consciousness, and post-traumatic amnesia. Even 'mild' TBIs can have long-term effects.
Source: CDC
Diagnosis & Imaging
CT scans, MRI, neurological exams, and cognitive testing help doctors understand the injury. Some effects only appear days or weeks after the initial trauma.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Deep-dive guides
Longer reads on the questions families ask most.
Our trusted sources
Every educational page links directly back to peer-reviewed and clinically reviewed sources.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/traumatic-brain-injury
National Institutes of Health (NINDS)
www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi
Brain Injury Association of America
www.biausa.org
Mayo Clinic — Traumatic Brain Injury
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury