Office Visit: Make brain safety a priority Joseph R. Cunningham With warmer weather finally upon us, you may be eager to do some spring cleaning. Before you climb on your ladder to clean your gutters or trim tree limbs, take a second thought to protect yourself from what could be a life-altering fall. March is National Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Month, and it’s a good reminder to always think about safety first. According to the Mayo Clinic, a traumatic brain injury is caused by a violent blow to the head or body, or from an object passing through brain tissue, like a bullet or bone fragment. TBIs range from mild to severe, with more serious TBIs resulting in tissue damage, bruising, bleeding and physical damage to the brain. Some injuries can result in long-term complications or death; TBIs make up approximately 30% of all injury deaths in the U.S., per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.