Car Accidents: Signs of a Brain Injury and What to Do
Millions of people sustain injuries in car accidents every year. In an accident, different parts of the body are affected differently. Many of these injuries are minor scratches and bruises while others are more serious. Head or brain injuries are some of the most serious of all accidental injuries and they can alter your life in devastating ways. The problem with a brain injury is that its signs are not always immediate. In many cases, the signs and symptoms can take several weeks or even more to appear. They can also appear and disappear. Since anyone can get injured in a car accident, it is extremely important to pay close attention and know what to do.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can not only alter the injured person’s life, but also the lives of those that are close to the injured person, because the injured person may not be themselves anymore.
What are the Symptoms of a Brain Injury?
Brain injuries occur when the brain impacts with something or is moved around so violently in your head that tears occur within the brain. If you suffer a brain injury in a car accident, you should take it seriously and seek the consultation of a doctor right away.
The head has the most number of blood vessels. But bleeding may or may not occur in a brain injury. Whether bleeding occurs or not, you should always monitor the symptoms both at the time of the accident as well as later. Below is a list of common symptoms that you should keep in mind as symptoms of a brain injury:
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Not sleeping well
- Not feeling re-energized after sleeping
- Vision impairment
- Forgetfulness
- Ringing in the ears
- Short-tempered
- Slow or slurred speech
- Foggy headedness
- Lost consciousness at the time of the accident
- Felt mentally disoriented at the time of the accident
- Sometimes feel nausea
- Vomiting
The symptoms you experience after a car accident may vary. Some of these signs are specific to minor head injury whereas others are related with major or severe brain injury. Many of symptoms associated with minor injuries appear in the cases of major brain injuries as well.
Here’s What to Do
If you get hurt in an accident, you should first watch out for the symptoms of a brain injury, as mentioned above. In case the collision or the rollover of the car resulted in a blow to the head, you may suffer from mild, moderate or serious brain injuries. If you experience any of the related symptoms, take these steps.
Tell the Emergency Responders:
Brain injury symptoms may or may not appear at once. If you experience brain injury symptoms straight away, you should inform the emergency medical personnel as well as the police officers present at the scene about any and all symptoms you experienced from the time of the accident to the point where you are providing the information. Try to be as specific as possible so that they can understand how mild or severe your head injury might be.
CT Scan:
Depending on the severity of your accidental injuries, you may need to be rushed to the closest emergency room or the trauma center. A CT scan of your brain is likely to be immediately carried out to determine if bleeding has occurred. The imaging technique is quite effective to detect bleeding inside the brain or in the areas that surround the brain. Your CT scan analysis will help the doctor know if there is a need for an urgent surgery.
MRI:
The next step is to get an MRI of your brain. This imaging technique offers more detailed images of the internal tissues of the brain as well as the brain stem. The procedure is both safe and painless. The results from this test will help the doctor assess if there are tissue abnormalities.
See Your Primary Care Physician:
Signs and symptoms of a brain injury vary from one patient to another. Whether the symptoms are mild or serious, you should never ignore the importance of seeing a doctor. Go to your primary care physician and tell them what symptoms you are experiencing. Ask the doctor to go to a specialist such as a neurologist. A specialist will consider your symptoms in complete detail and will attempt to determine the severity of your brain injury.
If You’re Diagnosed with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)
Most people underestimate mild traumatic brain injuries. If you or your close ones are diagnosed with mTBI, never think that you should ignore it because there is nothing serious. In fact, there is nothing mild about brain injuries. In medical parlance, doctors use the word ‘mild’ to refer to brain injury cases which don’t require emergency brain surgery. Do not think of a mild brain injury as a temporary injury because no head injury is too small. You should always seek medical care – even if the initial examinations say that the brain injury is not serious.
People diagnosed with mTBI should seek an evaluation by a neuropsychologist. The purpose of this in-depth assessment is to clinically review both the pre- and post-morbid behaviors of the patient. During the evaluation, the specialist may also gather information from persons who are close to the patient.
On the basis of the findings from the evaluation, specialists recommend what kind of treatments the patient should undergo to assist the patient with learning how to live with
their new condition.
Tip: Broaden Your Knowledge about Brain Injuries
Knowledge is empowering. According to a report published on BrainLine, around 2.8 million people in the United States are treated for TBI’s every year. Going by these brain injury figures, every American has over 1:160 chance of experiencing a traumatic brain injury. While one hopes that this doesn’t happen to them, it is wise to prepare yourself for the worst ahead of time.
So, it is a good idea to read and know as much about brain injuries as possible. Focus on topics such as symptoms of a head injury, types of brain injuries, effects of brain injuries, hospital treatment, rehabilitation, etc.
This will help people around you understand that your brain may not function like it did before and they’ll need to get used to that. If you can point them to educational materials so they can read up on your condition, they may be less frustrated and more patient with the new version of you.
Legal Assistance in Brain Injury Due to Car Accidents
Sustaining a brain injury in a car accident can derail your life. The rising costs of health care make it hard for most people to deal with high medical bills. Right from diagnostic tests, hospitalization and medication to surgeries, rehabilitation and continuing care, the situation can put you in a tough spot, financially speaking. Not to mention that you may not be able to be as effective or efficient at your job, which could cost you your job.
The effects of a brain injury can last for several months, several years, and often an entire lifetime. Don’t assume that the symptoms will just go away or that you’re merely getting older and your brain isn’t as responsive as it once was due to age; if you notice that your not able to think like you did before the accident, you have one chance to obtain compensation for your brain injury.
If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident due to the negligence or reckless behavior of another person, you are entitled by way of law to receive personal injury compensation. Get in touch with the Accident Injury Law Center (TAILC) for a review of your claim. Schedule your free consultation with Mr. Yneges now.
