- March 5, 2018
- Brain Injury
- Car Accidents
- Personal Injury
Car accidents can be extremely damaging and can result in serious injuries to the driver, passengers, and any pedestrians or bicyclists involved. Some common injuries include spinal injuries, broken bones, lacerations, serious bruises, muscle tears and sprains, and head injuries. Head injuries are among the most damaging injuries because they can cause serious cognitive damage and could have lasting effects. If you are ever involved in a serious crash where you or someone else suffers a head injury, make sure you know how to identify the signs and how to seek treatment.About Brain Injuries
Even though the human head is exceptionally strong, it can still be severely injured by a significant impact, piercing force, or some other type of physical trauma. Head injuries also vary by degree. Minor head injuries might not cause lasting damage, but they can still be very painful and might affect your daily life for a day or so.
Traumatic brain injuries, on the other hand, can be much more damaging and may cause long-lasting or permanent harm. Concussions, for example, are considered a relatively minor form of head injury, but should still be taken very seriously. Other types of head injuries include contusions, diffuse axonal injuries, and penetration.
Car Accidents & Head Injuries
The types of injuries suffered in car accidents are usually caused by a forcible impact, as opposed to injuries caused by dangerous chemicals or oxygen deprivation. Whether the vehicle crashes into another vehicle, a stationary object, or rolls off the road, any of these types of scenarios could result in serious spinning, whipping, and jolting motions, or hard, direct impacts with other objects in the car.
One of the most common injuries in car accidents is whiplash, which occurs when the head or neck is whipped back and forth, usually because of a severe impact from the front or rear of the vehicle. While whiplash is technically a spinal injury, it can cause a concussion, or it could go hand in hand with a direct injury to the head. For example, someone might be hit from behind, causing their head to whip forward, causing whiplash while also forcing the head to strike the steering wheel.
The car accident victim might strike their head on the window, door, steering wheel, dashboard, or some other hard object in the vehicle, causing a concussion or severe contusion. A contusion is a serious bruise, but when a contusion occurs in the head, it occurs to bleeding in the brain itself.
Lastly, a car accident could cause a diffuse axonal injury, which occurs when the nerve tissue in the brain tears, usually because the brain has moved inside of the skull. Usually, these injuries are caused be extreme shaking or a strong rotation of the head, which can occur in a very violent car accident or some other incident involving an extreme impact.
How To Identify a Traumatic Brain Injury
Some brain injuries can result in lasting harm, loss of cognitive function, severe pain, memory loss, loss of motor function, and more. In order to increase your chances for a full recovery, it is crucial that you know the signs of a brain injury so you can act fast and seek treatment.
Symptoms of a brain injury include:
- Loss of consciousness
- Confusion
- Memory loss
- Trouble speaking
- Irrational anger
- Difficulty speaking or hearing
- Blurred vision
- Partial or total loss of vision
- Nausea and vomiting
If you or someone you know suffered a blow to the head, make sure you go to the doctor immediately for medical treatment. With the help of an MRI scan, X-ray, and other medical tests, a hospital can identify the severity of your head injury.
Head injuries can be extremely disorienting, painful, and may have lasting effects on your cognitive function, motor skills, memory, and more. If another person’s carelessness or negligence caused your head injury, you have a right to take legal action to pursue justice and compensation for the damages.
Contact Goodman Acker P.C. today to get started on your Detroit personal injury case.