Military & Veterans
Many thousands of men and women in the U.S. military have sustained concussions (also called mild traumatic brain injuries, or mTBIs) while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, traumatic brain injury has been called one of the signature injuries of these wars.
Some of these service members may present to your office with symptoms such as headaches or insomnia. Unless you know that your patient has been in combat and you ask the appropriate questions, it would be easy to overlook concussion/mTBI as an underlying cause.
Whether you are a doctor, physician assistant, nurse, physical therapist, social worker, or any other kind of civilian health care provider, knowing if your patient has been in combat can help you provide more effective treatment.