Stephen Schultz | May 13, 2025 | Brain Injuries
The brain stem doesn’t get the same attention as the brain itself or the spinal cord, but it’s just as important to the body’s ability to function. Damage to the brain stem can cause serious and even deadly complications because the brain stem controls both basic survival and body regulation.
What Does the Brain Stem Do?
The brain stem sits just above the spine and handles automatic functions most people never think about — breathing, swallowing, heart beating, and even blinking. It connects the brain to the spine, and when it doesn’t work properly, messages between the body and the brain get scrambled. Even a small injury can throw off several body systems.
A brain stem injury happens when the lower part of the brain (known as the midbrain, pons, or medulla) gets hurt. This type of damage can be traumatic or non-traumatic. Traumatic injuries tend to come from outside forces, while non-traumatic ones come from medical issues within the body itself.
Causes of Brain Stem Injuries
A number of scenarios can damage brain stem function, but some happen more often than others.
Vehicle Accidents
Car crashes and collisions with commercial trucks are a leading cause of brain stem injuries. When a person’s head snaps forward or back, the brain can slam against the skull, and that violent motion often affects the base of the brain. Rear-end accidents are particularly notorious for causing this kind of injury.
Falls on Hard Surfaces
Tripping on stairs, slipping on icy ground, or losing your balance on broken sidewalks can all lead to serious falls that cause head trauma. Older adults and children are more at risk, but anyone can experience a hard fall. The force can send a shockwave up through the spine and directly into the brain stem itself.
Physical Assaults and Shaken Baby Syndrome
In cases that involve violent blows to the back of the head, the brain stem can suffer direct trauma. And when infants are shaken, delicate brain tissues can be torn, including the still-developing brain stem. Even without skull fractures, shaken baby syndrome is a tragic example of how vulnerable this area of the brain is.
Disease and Medical Complications
Some brain stem injuries don’t come from outside forces. Oxygen deprivation during surgery, tumors, infections, and conditions like multiple sclerosis can all impact how the brain stem functions.
Stroke is another common culprit, as the tissue can die quickly when blood flow is cut off. These types of situations can trigger serious complications and even lead to death.
Effects of Brain Stem Injuries
The brain stem controls a number of automatic functions throughout the body. When it’s injured, the person can experience:
- Loss of motor function, meaning partial or total paralysis, an inability to walk, coordination problems, tremors, and problems with fine motor skills
- Breathing and heart rate changes, which could lead to the need for ventilators and pacemakers if the body can no longer “auto-correct” itself
- Loss of speech (or slurred speech) and swallowing ability if the injury affects breathing and muscle movement
- Cognitive and sensory impairments like brain fog, memory problems, troubles with concentration, sleep disruptions, and hearing and vision issues
One of the most devastating effects of a brain stem injury is a condition known as locked-in syndrome. In this state, the person is fully conscious but completely paralyzed except for eye movement. They can hear, see, and think, but they can’t move or speak. It’s rare, but it can happen when the lower brain stem is badly damaged.
Why These Injuries Are So Complicated
Brain stem injuries are quite different from other forms of brain trauma. They’re hard to detect, tricky to treat, and often irreversible. Since the brain stem is small and tightly packed, and since it controls so many vital body functions, even small injuries can change a person’s life dramatically.
Doctors might be able to catch a fracture or bleed on a CT scan, but the damage can be so microscopic that they could miss it. Symptoms might come and go and could be subtle, like feeling fatigued and anxious or just being more clumsy than usual, until things suddenly get worse. This means a diagnosis can be hard to get and is often delayed.
Rehab is long-term and rarely complete. Speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy can help the person regain some function, but many patients never fully recover. When the injury is severe, they may have to rely on others for everything for the rest of their lives.
There’s also a heavy emotional cost. Brain stem injuries don’t just affect the person who got hurt. They also hit their friends and families hard. Loved ones often become full-time caregivers and have to handle everything from feeding schedules to medical decisions. The financial toll adds another layer of stress, especially if the injured person was the main breadwinner.
The Legal Angle: When Injuries Demand Answers
When an accident causes a brain stem injury, the stakes go beyond the physical recovery. This type of trauma comes with overwhelming costs from hospital bills, lost time from work, and permanent disability. Proving who caused the accident is the first step, and lawyers have to collect evidence to link the accident to the injury.
Legal Clarity Starts With Medical Understanding
Brain stem injuries can upend lives in the blink of an eye. They take away what most people do automatically — breathe, walk, and speak — and leave them with far more questions than answers. When these injuries happen because of someone else’s negligent behavior, the law can help hold the at-fault party accountable for the victim’s financial losses.
After trauma to the brain stem, the road ahead isn’t easy. Every injury is different, and every legal case is unique. That’s why a solid understanding of the causes and effects is critical for helping victims and their families make informed legal decisions. If you need help, contact a personal injury lawyer today for a free consultation.
Contact the St. Louis Brain Injury Lawyers at Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers
The pain, suffering, lost wages, and medical bills related to delayed pain can quickly take a toll. If your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to financial compensation. If you’re experiencing delayed pain after an accident, schedule a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer to evaluate your case and protect your legal rights.
If you’ve been injured, please contact the attorneys at Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers at the nearest location to schedule a free consultation, we proudly serve all throughout Missouri, including St. Louis County and Boone County and we have offices in St. Louis, Ladue, Columbia, Creve Coeur.
Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers – St. Louis Office
1430 Washington Ave Ste 225
St. Louis, MO 63103
(314) 444-4444
Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers – Ladue Office
9807 S 40 Dr
St. Louis, MO 63124
Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers – Columbia Office
28 N 8th St # 502
Columbia, MO 65201
Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers – Creve Coeur Office
999 Executive Pkwy Dr #205
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
