Brain Injuries
When a birth injury occurs it is a heartbreaking time for the parents. A traumatic brain injury occurs when the brain becomes injured in some type of accident. A brain injury can occur from a slip or fall, an auto accident, workplace accident, or birth injuries. Every year thousands of people suffer a head injury that results in a traumatic brain injury, referred to as TBI.
What You Need to Know About Brain Injuries
What are the Signs of a Brain Injury
If you have sustained a blow to the head or suffered whiplash-like injuries it is important that you seek medical attention immediately to determine if you have experienced a TBI. Even when symptoms are minimal a serious brain injury may have occurred, which is why you should seek treatment for any head injury before further injury develops. Brain injury symptoms can be delayed for hours, with symptoms not showing until swelling in the brain reaches a point that it affects the victim. Symptoms to look for include:
Physical Symptoms:
Mental/Cognitive Symptoms:
Emotional Symptoms:
Long Term Problems
TBIs are serious – they can be life-threatening events. Traumatic brain injuries commonly result in permanent, irreversible damage to the brain, with a profound outcome. TBIs can cause weakness, paralysis, or abnormalities including loss of sensation, coordination, or intellectual capacity. More tragic even than the physical injuries is the neurological and mental changes which can range from subtle and overlooked to severe and life changing. These may happen as a result of what appears to be a minor accident in which the brain is jarred. Symptoms, called soft signs, begin to appear afterwards, sometimes after long periods of time. In some cases, TBI causes complete memory loss or personality changes so severe it destroys the family unit.
In either case, a TBI can have a significant effect on the victim’s quality of life, inability to work, inability to interact with friends and family, loss of body function, and inability to care for oneself.
Brain injuries occur as a result of two different circumstances. Either a sudden impact causes the brain to collide with the skull, a closed head injury, or an object impacts the skull and damages the brain, an open head injury.
Brain injuries can cause incredibly serious medical problems, and they can change a person's life forever. Brain injuries often occur from incidents like:
Brain injuries can be difficult to detect, especially if they are closed head injuries because there are very few outer signs or symptoms. Brain injury symptoms and effects can even arise months after the incident that caused the brain injury. This can make your brain injury claim very difficult to handle through the court system without the experienced assistance of Williams, Caponi & Associates P.C., Attorneys at Law.
A brain injury can affect every aspect of both the victim's life and the people around them. Many times, people who suffer brain injuries require full-time care and medical attention. For many families this can be an enormous emotional and financial burden they are forced to bear.
What You Need to Know About Brain Injuries
- 30% of all brain injuries result from falls
- 20% are the result of an auto accident
- 20% are the result of being struck by an object
- 12% are the result of an assault.
- Men suffer brain injuries 1.5 times more often than women
- A brain injury occurs every 15 seconds in America
- More than 80,000 people will suffer permanent disability from a brain injury
- More than 50,000 people will die this year from a brain injury
- In the under 18 age group, traumatic brain injury is the #1 cause of death or disability
What are the Signs of a Brain Injury
If you have sustained a blow to the head or suffered whiplash-like injuries it is important that you seek medical attention immediately to determine if you have experienced a TBI. Even when symptoms are minimal a serious brain injury may have occurred, which is why you should seek treatment for any head injury before further injury develops. Brain injury symptoms can be delayed for hours, with symptoms not showing until swelling in the brain reaches a point that it affects the victim. Symptoms to look for include:
Physical Symptoms:
- Dizziness
- Loss of balance
- Headaches
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blurred vision
- Drowsiness
- Confusion
Mental/Cognitive Symptoms:
- Intermittent disorientation
- Amnesia
- Short-term memory loss
- Poor judgment
- Poor concentration
Emotional Symptoms:
- Depression
- Agitation
- Irritability
- Apathy
- Confrontational attitude
- Explosive temper
- Personality changes
- Impatience
- Fearfulness
- Sleep disruption
- Appetite disturbances
Long Term Problems
TBIs are serious – they can be life-threatening events. Traumatic brain injuries commonly result in permanent, irreversible damage to the brain, with a profound outcome. TBIs can cause weakness, paralysis, or abnormalities including loss of sensation, coordination, or intellectual capacity. More tragic even than the physical injuries is the neurological and mental changes which can range from subtle and overlooked to severe and life changing. These may happen as a result of what appears to be a minor accident in which the brain is jarred. Symptoms, called soft signs, begin to appear afterwards, sometimes after long periods of time. In some cases, TBI causes complete memory loss or personality changes so severe it destroys the family unit.
In either case, a TBI can have a significant effect on the victim’s quality of life, inability to work, inability to interact with friends and family, loss of body function, and inability to care for oneself.
Brain injuries occur as a result of two different circumstances. Either a sudden impact causes the brain to collide with the skull, a closed head injury, or an object impacts the skull and damages the brain, an open head injury.
Brain injuries can cause incredibly serious medical problems, and they can change a person's life forever. Brain injuries often occur from incidents like:
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Auto Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Defective Products
- Dangerous Drugs
- Nursing Home Abuse
Brain injuries can be difficult to detect, especially if they are closed head injuries because there are very few outer signs or symptoms. Brain injury symptoms and effects can even arise months after the incident that caused the brain injury. This can make your brain injury claim very difficult to handle through the court system without the experienced assistance of Williams, Caponi & Associates P.C., Attorneys at Law.
A brain injury can affect every aspect of both the victim's life and the people around them. Many times, people who suffer brain injuries require full-time care and medical attention. For many families this can be an enormous emotional and financial burden they are forced to bear.