If you’re in a serious automobile accident, it’s normal to feel a little out of focus and disoriented at first. But if those symptoms are severe and don’t improve quickly, you might have suffered a traumatic brain injury.
There are several ways traumatic brain injury can happen in a car accident, like if your head hits the steering wheel or windshield. You can also suffer a brain injury if you’re ejected and your head hits the pavement.
What types of brain injuries are there?
Generally, brain injuries can broken down into two categories: closed head injury and open head injury.
A closed head injury could include the following:
- Concussions – This is a mild brain injury that involves slight swelling of the brain. The brain is typically able to recover from a concussion, but not always, and sometimes the concussion can cause brain damage if it is severe.
- Mass Lesions – This could include bruising (contusions), blood clots (hematoma), and bleeding of the brain (hemorrhaging). All of these put more pressure on your fragile brain.
- Diffuse Injuries – Diffuse injuries are tiny injuries that are dispersed throughout your brain in different places. They’re often hard to find and can end with brain damage.
What are the signs of a traumatic brain injury?
Your brain is responsible for the following functions, among several others:
- Attention and concentration.
- Processing and comprehending information.
- Remembering things
- Communicating with others
- Planning, sorting, and putting things together
- Reasoning skills, problem-solving, making decisions, and judgment.
- Impulse control, patience
If you’ve suffered a brain injury, you might have issues with attention, concentration, talking, comprehending and remembering, or a host of other areas.
Do you find yourself with any of the following problems?
- Restlessness, unable to sit still
- Easily distracted, unable to multitask or finish even one project
- Issues with talking to people for long periods of time
- Having trouble coming up with the right word
- Trouble starting or following conversations or understanding what others say.
- Rambling or straying off topic
- Difficulty organizing your thoughts.
- Trouble with nonverbal communication, unable to show facial expressions
- Unable to understand or respond correctly to other people’s nonverbal communication.
- Not understanding jokes or sarcastic remarks
If someone was negligent in causing your brain injury, you are entitled to compensation in several areas. A good personal injury attorney will go after the responsible party for the following, depending on the circumstances of your case:
- Medical bills, both current and future
- Rehabilitation and long-term medical care
- Lost income and lowered earning capacity
- Damage to your property
- Pain and suffering
If you or someone you love has suffered a brain injury because of an accident, contact Robert Armstrong’s office today for help.