What Are the Causes and Effects of Brainstem Injuries?
SEO | September 13, 2025 | Brain Injuries
The brainstem is one of the most important parts of the human body. It’s small (only about the width of your thumb), but it controls major functions that keep us alive. An injury to this area of the brain can immediately flip a person’s life upside down.
Brainstem trauma is often catastrophic and permanent. With as much as it controls, an injury can take away basic abilities most people never even think about until they can’t do them anymore. A person can be left unable to move, communicate, speak, or live on their own. The emotional and financial toll on victims and their families is just as heavy.
What Does the Brainstem Do?
The brainstem connects the brain to the spinal cord. Think of it like a control switchboard that manages your body’s automatic systems. It has three parts — the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.
Each part has an important job to do:
- Midbrain: Manages vision, motor control, sleep, and hearing
- Pons: Bridges signals between the spine and brain, and also helps control breathing and facial movements
- Medulla Oblongata: Regulates blood pressure, heart rate, and involuntary reflexes like sneezing and coughing
Damage to this area throws the entire body off balance. Brainstem injuries are extremely dangerous, and if they’re bad enough, they can be fatal.
How Do Brainstem Injuries Happen?
The brainstem is tucked deep inside the skull and is well protected by bone. But when the head is jolted by a hard and heavy blow, that protection isn’t always enough. The resulting trauma can twist or shear the delicate neural pathways within, disrupting essential functions.
Even without a direct hit, a sudden deceleration, like in a car crash, can inflict significant damage. This impact transmits powerful forces that the brainstem struggles to withstand.
Vehicle Accidents
High-speed crashes can easily cause the head to whip back and forth. That sudden movement could slam the brain into the inside of the skull and damage the stem. In motorcycle accidents, the risk is even higher. If the rider doesn’t have a helmet, a brain injury often results after a crash.
Slips and Falls
A serious slip-and-fall—tumbling down the stairs, slipping on wet floors, or falling off ladders—can leave a person with significant head trauma. When the back of the head hits a hard surface in a fall, the impact can cause damage to the brainstem.
Blunt Force Trauma
Kicks, punches, and being struck by an object can all lead to direct trauma. Gunshot wounds are even more serious if the bullet penetrates the skull near the base.
Sports Accidents
Any sport with high-impact collisions carries a higher risk of head trauma. One bad tackle in a football game or a misplaced punch in a boxing match can cause a brainstem injury.
Medical Incidents
Complications or medical malpractice during spinal or brain surgery can cause injury. Stroke, aneurysm, and brainstem tumors can also damage the area and lead to symptoms similar to a TBI.
What Symptoms Can Brainstem Injuries Cause?
There’s no such thing as a “mild” brainstem injury. Even slight damage can cause major complications simply because the functions the stem control are vital for daily life.
Loss of Motor Function
Injuries to this area can lead to tremors, weakness, or even paralysis. Some people completely lose control over their arms and legs. Others have trouble with coordination and balance. Severe cases can result in quadriplegia.
Heart Rate and Breathing Problems
Because the brainstem manages automatic systems, damage can lead to irregular heartbeats and breathing difficulties. Some patients need a ventilator just to stay alive.
Trouble Speaking or Swallowing
Someone with a brainstem injury might develop slow or slurred speech patterns, or they might not be able to talk at all. Swallowing often becomes a challenge and increases the risks of choking and aspiration pneumonia.
Sensory and Cognitive Issues
The brainstem doesn’t handle complicated thinking or memory directly, but an injury can still impact a person’s alertness, sensory perception, and sleep patterns. Some patients fall into vegetative states or comas.
Behavioral and Emotional Changes
Damage to the brainstem sometimes impacts a person’s mental health or their ability to regulate their actions and emotions. A calm and logical person might suddenly experience mood swings or have trouble keeping their anger in check. Depression and anxiety are common, too.
What Are the Long-Term Consequences of Brainstem Injuries?
Survival is just the start of trauma to the brainstem. The long-term effects depend on the severity and exact location of the injury, how quickly the person received treatment, and their individual health factors. Regardless, recovery is rarely quick and often not complete. A person may be able to regain some function over time, but many never heal.
Some people spend months in rehab just to relearn walking or speaking, while others become permanently dependent on another person for full-time care. Careers can end, relationships may become strained, and plans could change forever.
Families often have to take on the role of caregiver for the injured person, and that can be draining in every way imaginable. Medical bills pile up, and the emotional strain is just as rough.
Personal Injury Claims for Brainstem Injuries
When someone suffers a brainstem injury in an accident, every second counts. This part of the brain doesn’t just connect to the rest of the body — it’s the command center for survival. The brainstem works quietly behind the scenes to keep our most basic systems in check. An injury can rewrite the entire script of someone’s life.
That’s why it’s important to understand what long-term effects a brainstem injury can have on an accident victim—not just for doctors and lawyers—but for anyone trying to make sense of a traumatic event. This knowledge helps victims and their families recognize the scope of the damage and advocate for the care their loved ones may need.
Regardless of the type of accident, the damage stretches far beyond the initial event. Knowing about these long-lasting problems can help make sure that all your current and future doctor bills, lost pay, and suffering are fully considered.
Contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers Today for a Free Consultation With Our San Diego Personal Injury Attorneys
If you or a loved one has suffered a brainstem injury due to someone else’s negligence, you don’t have to face the aftermath alone. Mission Personal Injury Lawyers is here to help you understand your legal options and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Call us today for a free consultation with our San Diego personal injury lawyers.
If you’ve been injured in San Diego or Chula Vista, please call Mission Personal Injury Lawyers for a free case evaluation with a personal injury lawyer or contact us online.
We proudly serve San Diego County and throughout California.
Mission Personal Injury Lawyers – San Diego Office
2515 Camino del Rio S Suite 350, San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 777-5555
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We also serve the state of Texas. For legal assistance, contact our personal injury law office in El Paso today.
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201 E Main Suite 106, El Paso, Texas 79901
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