Common Injuries War Veterans Suffer From
Soldiers who serve their country sometimes pay the ultimate price and are killed in the line of duty. But those who survive don’t always make it back home in the same condition they left. There are a variety of common injuries that our war veterans suffer from. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused when a soldier has suffered severe psychological trauma such as extreme violence or sexual assault. Commonly people who are suffering from PTSD will have flashbacks of the event, and/or have nightmares about it. This often causes sleep difficulties and makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep. Those suffering from PTSD become extremely sensitive to their surrounds, become angry and have problems at home and at work. People suffering from PTSD can sometimes turn to drugs to try and solve their problems, and sadly in some cases turn to suicide. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) What most people don’t know is that concussion is a mild form of TBI and is actually the most common. There is however a lot more severe form that can cause disability. Soldiers who have been involved in vehicle accidents or explosions can suffer from TBI. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) CPRS usually effects an arm or a leg with severe pain and swelling, but it can sometimes spread. Deregulation of the nervous system causes loss of function, impairment and can cause disability. There are two types of CRPS. Type 1, where there is no actually never damage and soldiers continue to feel pain even after their damaged limb has been repaired, and type 2, where there is actually damage. The pain of CRPS can be increased movement,
touch or even stress. The symptoms experienced by those suffering from CRPS can include local swelling, muscle spasms, shooting pains, increased sweating, changes in skin temperature and colour, thinning bones, tenderness and painful or restricted movement. CRPS is treated with both medication and physical therapy. In worst case scenarios, the limb will be amputated, but this only stops the pain half of the time, so it’s only used as a last resort. Amputation Amputations are performed when a limb is too badly damaged to save, and usually occur after a soldier has been involved in an accident or explosion. A combination of both physical and emotional therapy is used to treat patients. Physical therapy allows those who have had a limb amputated to learn how to use a new prosthesis, wheelchair or crutches. Sometimes nerves that have been damaged can continue to cause pain leaving those who have had an amputation feeling as if there missing limb is still hurting. This is similar to CRPS and is call phantom limb. The same treatments used to treat CRPS are also used in these cases. Burns As well as fire, burns can be cause by electricity, chemicals, radiation, light, heat or friction. Burns are classified by four different degrees with fourth being the worst. Depending on how bad the burn is, it can cause infection, shock, respiratory distress and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Depending on the degree of the burn, treatment can include bandaging and dressing, dead tissue removal, fluid resuscitation, and skin grafts. Antibiotics are also used to prevent infection. Spinal Cord Injuries Injuries to the spinal cord can cause pain, paralysis and incontinence. Depending on the severity of the injury, veterans who have had a spinal cord injury may need to learn to use either crutches or a wheelchair in physical therapy and it’s often necessary to make changes to their house to accommodate their new needs. It’s also important to see a psychologist in order to accept what’s happened to them. What if Veteran Affairs can’t help? Sometimes Veteran Affairs can’t always assist veterans returning from overseas. They may decline their treatment or place them on long waiting lists when they need treatment urgently. When this happens organisations like Healing Heroes Network step in to pick up the slack. Healing Heroes network is dedicated to helping those injured in Afghanistan or Iraq since September 11, 2001. They will help when Veteran Affairs can’t. Organisations like Healing Heroes Network are important to ensure that each and every soldier returning from overseas deployment gets the help that they need.