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While it is true that traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are called a silent epidemic, if your injury was caused by the negligence of another and it turned your life upside down, you have a strong chance of winning compensation.
TBIs are considered to be silent injuries, much like whiplash, because victims look normal even though they have sustained a serious, life-changing injury. Roughly 100,000 Americans die annually from TBI and a further 500,000 end up permanently disabled. Every 15 seconds someone suffers a brain injury and approximately 5.3 million (more than 2 percent of the nation’s population) are living with disability as a result of a TBI.
You can sustain a traumatic brain injury in a car wreck even when your head does not hit anything in the car. During the impact of a crash, your body is jolted back and forth inside the vehicle, and your brain can slam against your skull, resulting in brain damage.
Brain injuries are often serious but can vary from person to person. Some victims of brain injuries suffer mild injuries and recover quickly, while other victims have more severe injuries and may never recover.
There are two main categories of head injuries that can result in a TBI. These can include, but not be limited to, closed and open head injuries. When dealing with closed injuries, there is usually no visible injury. There is no readily apparent injury until symptoms manifest. Because the injury may not be evident until symptoms appear, many closed head injuries are either never diagnosed or are diagnosed sometime after the triggering event.
Closed head injuries are further divided into sub-categories, such as:
Open head injuries, also referred to as penetrating head injuries, happen when an object penetrates the skull and the underlying brain tissue. If the skull was fractured in a car accident, the brain might be pierced by a piece of bone, debris or glass. Open head injuries require immediate care to stop the bleeding and attempt to reduce swelling of the brain.
In car accidents, there is the possibility of two kinds of impacts that may result in a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Striking your head on the steering wheel or doorframe of the vehicle can result in a whiplash related traumatic brain injury where the brain swings back and forth inside the skull. There is the possibility of having both a whiplash traumatic brain injury and the physical trauma of hitting an object.
Texas operates under a modified comparative fault rule when it comes to determining fault in an accident. In other words, a driver cannot recover damages from another party if that individual is 51 percent or more at fault for an accident. Your attorney would need to discuss the accident with you, examine the accident reports, photos of the scene, and conduct an investigation to determine whether you were partially at fault for the accident or not.
In the meantime, do not discuss your accident with the other party’s insurance company or attorney. The insurance company can put you in a bad light and perhaps cast aspersions against you for an injury by saying it is pre-existing. Do not speak to anyone other than your attorney.
There are close to five million Americans that are currently living with disabilities incurred as a result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A TBI can have many short- or long-term effects on daily life of affected individuals like:
In part, concussions are a bit like whiplash and are often referred to as “silent injuries” or “invisible injuries” because they are not outright visible. Even if your concussion is a silent one, the medical evidence should be enough to convince anyone of your injury. The medical exams and doctor diagnosis will back up your claim. In addition, you will likely have other witnesses who can testify about the problems caused by your concussion.
It is important to remember that recovery from a traumatic brain injury, no matter what category it may be in, takes time. Instead of toughing it out, it is best to follow your doctor’s orders. Over taxing your brain can greatly slowdown your recovery. The best course is to follow what your doctor and listen to your body.
Typically, an accident victim who has sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) is quickly stabilized and monitored on arrival at the hospital. Many victims need immediate brain surgery to control brain bleeding, reduce intercranial fluid pressure and repair damaged tissue where possible. Quick medical intervention may help a person increase the chances of a full recovery.
To maintain a functional lifestyle after discharge and for the future, a victim may need to discuss seeking compensation for medical expenses (such as speech therapy, cognitive therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy) with a personal injury attorney familiar with TBI.
If you have a head injury, a number of options may exist for the treatment of your injury.
If the injury isn’t severe, then the only “treatment” that might be needed is time. Many brain injuries heal with the passage of time.
If your injury doesn’t heal with time, then your neurologist may recommend cognitive therapy — physical therapyy for the brain. There are two main functions of cognitive therapy. Initially, your neurologist and therapist will try to help you regain the functions that you are able to regain.
But in many instances, you might not be able to regain functions. In those instances, the cognitive therapist will help teach you ways to cope with the loss of the functions that you can’t regain. For instance, if you have difficulty remembering tasks, the cognitive therapist might teach you different methods to remember tasks that need to be done.
But the most important thing to remember with head injuries is to seek treatment. The head is the most fragile and most important part of your body. If you think you have any type of head injury at all, seek treatment from your physician or a neurologist as soon as possible.
Traumatic brain injuries are usually treated according to the type of injury involved, how severe it is and what area of the brain was injured.
Mild concussions, or mild TBIs, may not need specific medical attention. Those with mild concussions may feel good and go on with their lives as they did before their TBI. On the other hand, severe concussions or severe TBIs will require medical attention.
Regardless of the severity of the TBI, it is vital to follow the advice of your doctor.
Do not return to usual activities until medically cleared to do so. Returning to normal activities too soon can trigger TBI symptoms and prolong healing. Additionally, you risk re-injuring yourself, and re-injury can lead to permanent brain damage.
The treatment for severe TBIs will be laser-focused on keeping the injured person alive by getting them on oxygen, controlling the pressure in the brain, controlling blood pressure and ensuring there is no further injury to the neck or head.
In some cases, surgery may be necessary to repair skull fractures, alleviate the pressure inside the skull, and remove pooled blood or blood clots (also referred to as hematomas).
Traumatic brain injury may also require medications. Some medications will be deployed immediately after the brain injury, and other prescriptions treat further symptoms and issues that arise during recovery. Here are some examples of medications used in TBI injuries:
The long-term effects of a TBI can be difficult for those who sustained the injury and those caring for them. To learn more about brain injuries
Doctors rate brain injuries using three levels: mild, moderate and severe. The most commonly used rating scale is the Glasgow Coma Scale, which helps physicians figure out how responsive a victim is to behavioral measures. The Glasgow Outcome Scale determines the likely prognosis of the injury. The Rancho Los Amigos Scale assesses consciousness, receptivity and responsiveness.
The full effects of a brain injury cannot be known until a patient has completed treatment and begun rehabilitation.
Every brain injury is different. Injuries differ in severity, in location (affecting different areas of the brain), and in consequence. Some people are just more susceptible to injury than others. The location of the injury typically dictates the general type of therapy that may work for a patient, but each person works through rehabilitation in his or her own way and at his or her own pace.
Rehabilitation may continue for the rest of the individual’s life, and it may constantly change to meet individual needs at various points in time