Concussion education / Palm Beach County

Memory and Focus Problems After a Head Injury in Palm Beach County

Forgetting things or struggling to focus after a crash or fall in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Jupiter? How concussion can affect thinking, and how testing helps.

Forgetting where you parked or losing your place mid-sentence can feel frightening after an injury. If you live or work in Palm Beach County and your memory or focus has changed since a crash or fall, there are real reasons this can happen, and real steps you can take.

Injuries across Palm Beach County

Whether the injury happened in season traffic on I-95 through Boca Raton and Delray Beach, on the Turnpike near Lake Worth, on US-1 in Jupiter or on Southern Boulevard heading out toward the Glades, the thinking changes after a concussion can be the hardest to explain. People say they lose their train of thought, reread emails, miss appointments or feel slower at work.

How concussion can affect thinking

The CDC lists difficulty thinking clearly, feeling slowed down, trouble concentrating and trouble remembering new information among concussion symptoms. These changes are real, and they are not a sign of weakness or of making things up.

Tell family and coworkers what you are going through. Support from people around you makes recovery easier.

Common concussion symptoms

• Physical: headache, nausea, dizziness, balance problems, blurry vision, sensitivity to light or noise.
• Thinking: feeling foggy or slowed down, trouble concentrating or remembering.
• Emotional: irritability, sadness, anxiety.
• Sleep: sleeping more or less than usual.

When to go to the emergency room

Call 911 or go to the nearest ER right away for danger signs such as a headache that gets worse and does not go away, repeated vomiting, weakness or numbness, slurred speech, seizures, unusual confusion, one pupil larger than the other, or loss of consciousness. In the area, hospitals with emergency departments include St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach and Delray Medical Center; in an emergency, go to whichever ER is closest.

Getting checked in Palm Beach County

If symptoms are not severe but are not going away, start with your treating provider, such as your primary care doctor, chiropractor, orthopedist, pain management physician or physical therapist. Keep a short symptom diary to share with them. If they decide objective testing makes sense, they can refer you to Braintree. We are a mobile service: our team brings concussion and TBI testing to your provider's office across Palm Beach County, so you are tested somewhere familiar. Your provider receives a physician-reviewed diagnostic report and decides on your care.

Not sure where to start? Call our help line at 813-709-3771. We can walk you through how testing works and help you think about next steps for getting checked and finding care. You can also read our guide for patients and families.

For local providers

If you treat accident or injury patients in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Jupiter, Braintree brings mobile concussion and TBI testing to your office and returns a physician-reviewed diagnostic report. You stay in charge of care. We diagnose. You treat. See how it works for providers or send a referral.

For legal teams

Personal injury firms serving Palm Beach County can learn how testing at the client's treating provider's office produces objective, physician-reviewed diagnostic reports. Testing is ordered by the treating provider. See information for attorneys.

Frequently asked questions

Related: Concussion testing in Palm Beach County | Concussion testing in Florida | For patients and families | Call 813-709-3771

Sources

• CDC: About mild TBI and concussion
• CDC HEADS UP: Concussion signs and symptoms
• NIH NINDS: Traumatic Brain Injury

This article is educational and is not medical or legal advice. If this is a medical emergency, call 911.