Yes, Head Injuries Can Cause A Hormonal Imbalance
It’s easy to blame other people’s hormones for the challenges in your life. Every time a teenager, a pregnant woman, or a middle-aged woman disagrees with you, you assume that the person’s refusal to see things from your perspective is because of the hormonal changes associated with puberty, pregnancy, or menopause, but hormones that act on the reproductive system are only a small part of the picture. Hormones affect your appetite for food, your sleep, whether you feel hot or cold, and your toilet habits, among many other aspects of your health. You never think about your hormones when they are within normal levels, but hormonal imbalances can cause unpleasant symptoms, and they can even be a sign of a more serious medical condition. It might surprise you to find out that one of the possible causes of hormone deficiency is a bump on the head, such as you might sustain in a car accident or accidental fall, even if it only caused a mild concussion. A Columbia car accident lawyer can help you if you are experiencing hormonal symptoms after suffering a concussion in a car accident or another type of accidental injury.
What Do Head Injuries Have to Do With Hormones?
The brain controls the rest of the body, and a concussion is an injury to the brain. Therefore, a concussion can cause symptoms ranging from nausea and dizziness to changes to your sense of smell, taste, or hearing. Likewise, the pituitary gland, which is located right under your brain, produces many different kinds of hormones that keep you feeling healthy, or even just feeling normal enough to not notice how you feel. If a head injury affects the pituitary gland, it may produce lower levels of some hormones, or even stop producing them altogether; this condition is called hypopituitarism. The following can be symptoms of hypopituitarism:
- Always feeling cold
- Weight gain
- Decreased body hair
- Excessive urination
- Muscle weakness
- Constipation
- Changes to the menstrual cycle
- Low blood pressure
Living With Hypopituitarism After a Traumatic Injury
A diagnosis of traumatic injury-related hypopituitarism only applies if the levels of your pituitary hormones remain low several weeks after the initial injury. A brain injury, even a mild one, can cause hormonal disruptions, but these are usually temporary; therefore, it takes several blood tests performed several weeks apart to reach a diagnosis of hypopituitarism. Treatment involves replacing the hormones that are at low enough levels that they are causing ill health. Hormones can be given as oral medications or injections, depending on which kind you need. If you are filing an insurance claim or lawsuit related to an accidental injury, the treatment of hypopituitarism counts as an accident-related medical expense.
Let Us Help You Today
The car accident lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you are suffering from hormone deficiencies related to an accident where you suffered a head injury. Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.
Source:
headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/effects-of-brain-injury/hormonal-imbalances/
