Military & VeteransDr. Perl shares what service members have described when recalling what their injuries felt like.
Service members who have experienced blast
injury describe a variety of experiences with it, depending on the extent of the blast,
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.
Posted on BrainLine December 13, 2017.
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.
(Photo: Screen capture by Sgt. Bryan A. Peterson/Released)