March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month and it’s a great time to raise awareness about traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can be a life-altering or fatal injury to sustain. Many traumatic brain injuries occur due to blunt force trauma to the brain. When this happens, the brain shakes around inside the skull, which can cause bruising and bleeding to occur. In some cases, the brain swells due to the injury and because of the skull there is no place for the brain to go, causing pressure which can cause further damage to the brain tissue.
Brain injuries can also occur if a person’s brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time, as can occur with some birth injuries or with near-drownings. Injury can also occur if the skull is pierced and the tissue inside is directly impacted.
How Do Brain Injuries Commonly Happen?
Traumatic brain injuries can happen anytime the head sustains an impact or there is a risk of loss of oxygen to the brain. TBIs can happen due to:
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accident
- Truck accidents
- Falls, including falls from heights and slip and fall accidents
- Sports injuries
- Boating accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Assault and violence
- Birth injuries
- Gunshots
- Explosions, including those caused by defective products
- Bicycle accidents
What Is the Impact of a Serious Brain Injury?
A serious TBI can be life-altering. In some cases, it can be fatal. In other situations, it can render a person unable to care for themselves or severely injured, to the point that work or everyday activities are a challenge. While every injury is different, patients may experience:
- Loss of memory
- Sleep disorders
- Personality changes and depression
- Confusion and disorientation
- Seizures
- Cognitive changes
- Mobility issues
- Coma
- Vision problems
- Sensitivity to light, noise, and smells
With a head injury, minutes count. If you may have hit your head, it is important to treat the situation like an emergency and get a medical evaluation by a qualified medical professional as soon as possible. If you have any symptoms such as a headache or blurred vision, visit an emergency room right away.
If you seek medical help fast, a doctor may be able to attempt to relieve pressure or bleeding in the brain, which can improve your prognosis. Waiting can be fatal.
Long-term, a serious TBI may require physical therapy, surgery, occupational therapy, at-home support, and other treatment. Treatment may take months or years and some symptoms may be permanent. The expenses of a TBI are significant, up to millions of dollars in lifetime costs for a severe injury. For this reason, if you have sustained a TBI, you may wish to find out about any compensation you may be eligible for, so you can pay for these medical costs.
How Do I Know If Someone Is Liable for My Brain Injury?
If your injury was caused by someone’s negligence, you may have a legal claim and be able to seek recovery for your losses, including income loss, medical bills, and other losses. One way to determine whether liability played a role in your injury and to find all liable parties is to speak with a brain injury claims attorney in Homestead. You can do this by contact Flaxman Law Group at 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free, no obligation consultation with our legal team.