Be Aware of Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms after a Car Accident

When is a bump on the head not just a bump on the head? Leaving an emergency room in one piece after a car accident is no guarantee that your brain has escaped uninjured and traumatic brain injury symptoms can start to show up hours, days, or even months after an accident. Recall the tragic 2009 death of actress Natasha Richardson, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and wife of Liam Neeson, widely-reported to have left a hospital ER with no visible sign of injury, laughing about her minor fall on a beginner's ski slope. Hours later, she succumbed to an epidural hematoma - bleeding between the skull and the brain, a kind of traumatic brain injury ("TBI") - and within a short time, her brain had died.

Vehicle wrecks, where the forces involved can cause the brain to quickly move back and forth in the head, are the number one cause of TBIs that ultimately lead to death, according to statistics maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"). Some TBIs are obvious after an accident, but the vast majority of TBIs go unnoticed in the ER. CDC figures reveal that every year, 1.7 million people sustain a TBI, and 1.365 million of them, or nearly 80%, are treated and released from a hospital emergency room.

If you've been in a car accident, there may be no evidence of traumatic brain injury on your first visit to the ER. Many brain injuries actually develop over time, even from minor impacts. Accident attorneys who routinely handle motor vehicle wrecks often see people who've been in car accidents slowly start to show signs of brain trauma. Due to the physical characteristics of your brain and the way it functions, problems from these head injuries tend to develop and worsen over the course of time, unseen but progressing all the while.

If you have sudden, painful or severe symptoms, such as unconsciousness, rapidly-worsening headache, vision, balance, amnesia, difficulty speaking, or other problems, especially if they occur shortly after an accident, you should seek medical treatment immediately. You should also be aware, though, of more subtle manifestations of brain injury, which could include mental confusion; irritability, depression, and other mood swings/personality changes; lack of physical energy; light-headedness/dizziness and difficulty balancing; problems with memory, concentration, and thinking; sensitivity to light or noise; blurred vision and tired feeling eyes; ringing ears or other hearing issues; a bad taste in the mouth; or trouble sleeping, among others.

Many doctors don't connect these slowly-developing symptoms with a car accident that happened months ago. If you think that you're experiencing changes like these that never occurred prior to your car wreck, your personal injury attorney can help connect you to expert medical providers who specialize in diagnosing and treating traumatic brain injuries.

If the accident that caused your brain injury was someone else's fault, you deserve to be compensated. Some TBI symptoms can become permanent, even with treatment. TBIs can cause lasting epilepsy and other long-term consequences, and they are known to increase the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Discuss this issue with an experienced personal injury attorney before you consider signing a settlement agreement in an accident case. If you've been in a car accident and walked away from the ER feeling lucky, the bump on your head that drew little attention at first could wind up drastically changing your life.

All content on Accidents.com is for informational purposes only and is NOT intended as legal or medical advice. Please seek advice from a professional on any related topics.

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