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Traumatic brain injury is referred to as a silent injury because in many cases, although not all, there are no visible signs that indicate trauma. TBI is similar to whiplash, where the damage is internal and not readily seen. It is also not uncommon for a brain injury to not be seen on MRI or CT results.
The first challenge is recognizing the injuries of a traumatic brain injury. Often, doctors do not have a good baseline to know what you were like before or after the incident. As a result, many brain injuries go undiagnosed.
The second important difficulty with whiplash and some TBI cases is proving the injury exists and demonstrating how it affects the victim on a daily basis. Medical records and treatment plans for injuries such as these are crucial to obtaining fair and equitable compensation as the result of a personal injury accident. Traumatic brain injury cases are highly complex and it is best to work with an experienced traumatic brain injury attorney.
There are four main categories of injury that may cause traumatic brain injury: toxic injuries, penetrating injuries, closed head injuries and anoxic injuries.
1. Toxic injuries are the result of exposure to chemicals. The chemical agent crosses the blood-brain barrier, killing brain cells.
2. Penetrating injuries damage the brain’s neurons. Examples include gunshot wounds and other injuries that leave an object embedded in the skull.
3. Closed head injuries result when the brain suffers an impact or is whiplashed from side to side, front to back or both, causing fluid buildup, pressure and other neurological changes.
4. Anoxic injuries are the end result of oxygen starvation and cause brain cells to die.
There are several types of head injuries and each injury is treated in a different manner. They are:
The symptoms of head injuries can vary widely in their degree. Moreover, head injury symptoms may not appear immediately after an accident. Some head injury symptoms can take day so weeks to manifest. Here is a list of the most common head injury symptoms:
Symptoms of moderate to severe head injuries include:
The most common problems after a traumatic brain injury involve the inability to access memories, issues with learning old and new information, over-stimulation, an inability to filter issues affecting them, difficulty paying attention, a decreased ability to solve problems and the complete or partial loss of executive thinking skills.
Some of these issues may resolve over time, and others may require ongoing therapy and rehabilitation.
The most common cause of a traumatic brain injury is usually a vehicle accident. Having said that the list of situations that may result in a brain injury are quite extensive.
Head injuries may be sustained by being involved in:
An open head injury is one when an object penetrates the skull and pierces the brain tissue. It is also called a penetrating head injury. This can happen a number of ways, but the most common way to sustain an open head injury is as a result of having a skull fracture or it was the result of being hit by flying debris or glass in a car accident.
An open head injury needs to be treated immediately as it may result in brain swelling or bleeding or a serious infection. It is important to get a prompt medical workup if you believe you suffered a head injury.
Other types of head injuries exist like, closed head, coup-contrecoup brain injuries, concussions and diffuse axonal injuries. A closed head injury will have no visible blood or penetration of the skull. Coup-contrecoup brain injuries are the result of brain bruising caused when the momentum of a crash causes the brain to move inside the skull. A concussion is typically the result of being hit in the head. Diffuse axonal injury is result of the brain rapidly shifting inside the skull due to trauma that caused the axons/fibers to be sheared.
A brain injury is much like it sounds, an injury to some part of the brain.
There are a number of types of brain injuries. The most common type of head injury is a concussion. A concussion is caused by trauma to the head or by sudden movement or change in movement of the head. In the personal injury setting, concussions can be caused by a blow to the head, such as a head hitting a steering wheel or hitting the ground after a fall, but also from a change of movement, such as a whiplash type of injury. While many of us are desensitized to the term “concussion” because of their frequency in some sports, concussions can be very serious. In many cases, it may take months or even years for a concussion to heal.
A contusion is a bruise or bleeding on the brain. Brain contusions are most often caused by direct blows to the head.
In a coup-contraeoup contusion, the brain suffers a contusion on the side of the head that suffered the blow and on the other side of the head when the brain slams back into the skull.
Most brain injuries are caused by trauma. That can include a blow to the head, where the force travels through the skull and damages the soft brain tissue, or it can include a force that causes the head to move quickly so that the brain moves inside the skull and hits the skull.
Approximately 50 to 70 percent of all traumatic brain injuries are caused by car crashes. Another common cause of brain injuries is a loss of oxygen to the brain.
Traumatic brain injury symptoms will vary depending on the severity of the injury. For some TBIs, symptoms may not appear for days or weeks. For other injuries, symptoms may be readily apparent. Moreover, each person experiences symptoms differently, and many people may not be aware that they are experiencing TBI symptoms.
Mild TBI symptoms include:
Moderate to severe TBIs may display the following symptoms:
If these symptoms are not medically assessed, the issues may turn into long-term complications that can include: