Military & Veterans
What do blast injuries feel like?
Service members who have experienced blast injury describe a variety of experiences with it, depending on the extent of the blast and how far away they are from the explosion. They feel a jolting sensation that is not like anything they’ve ever experienced before in their lives. It can be much more severe than that and produce unconsciousness and damage to the body. Some of that is related to other aspects of the explosion obviously. But it depends on the size of the explosion and the distance that one is from the explosion and to a certain degree if there are any walls or other structures interfering with the spread of the blast wave.
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About the author: Daniel P. Perl, MD
Dr. Perl is a Professor of Pathology at USUHS and Director of the CNRM's Brain Tissue Repository, where he has established a state-of-the-art neuropathology laboratory dedicated to research on the acute and long-term effects of traumatic brain injury among military personnel.
