Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a broad term that describes a wide range of injuries that happen to the brain. It can be caused by penetration, blow, jolt, or bump to the head. Traumatic brain injury can be described as either a closed brain injury or a penetrating brain injury.
In a closed brain injury, the brain is shaken inside the bony skull due to rapid forward and backward movement that results in the tearing and bruising of blood vessels and brain tissue. Closed brain injuries are commonly caused by car crashes, falls, shaking a baby, and sports injuries.
TBI has three main types: mild concussion or TBI (or mild traumatic brain injury), which are usually short-term injuries, moderate TBI, and severe TBI. These types basically describe the severity of the brain injury that a person sustained.
Especially moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, long-term effects of TBI can be very serious as it can lead to a lifetime of side effects like behavioral, cognitive function, emotional, and physical changes to how your brain functions.
And these changes make a significant impact on a person with TBI daily and can even change his or her personality. That is why TBI is a very severe injury that one should know about.
Traumatic Brain Injury Due to a Car Accident
Motor vehicle collisions are one of the most common ways for an individual to sustain a TBI according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Depending on the severity of the impact, besides other bodily injuries, the driver, rider, or passenger may suffer a TBI and endure its devastating, life-long effects. About 50% of persons with TBI are likely to experience further decline in their daily lives or die within 5 years of their injury.
If you or your loved one has been involved in a car accident, make sure that you get the treatment you need. Contact our personal injury attorney to help you get the compensation you deserve for your possibly ongoing medical care and pain and suffering.
The Long-Term Effects of TBI
After a severe, high-impact collision that jolts the head or the brain back and forth, side-to-side rapidly and multiple times, the occupant/s of the car can probably survive the crash but may however suffer long-term consequences due to moderate to severe TBI. These include the following:
1.Shortened life expectancy
Studies have shown that a person with moderate to severe TBI can have a life expectancy shorter than 9 years. Due to several causes, TBI can increase a person’s risk of dying from seizures, infections, pneumonia, and accidental drug poisoning.
2.Ongoing physical signs and symptoms
Physical symptoms of TBI will last for years and even decades for some. Some of these health complications include migraines or headaches (residual headache disability), fatigue (physical and mental, maybe even a loss of consciousness from time to time), sensitivity to light and noise, dizziness (lightheadedness or vertigo), visual problems (convergence insufficiency, light sensitivity, or the inability of the eyes to focus properly in near vision), and post-traumatic epilepsy or seizures.
You can also get post-concussion or post-concussive syndrome if your symptoms last longer than expected, and you will have problems with concentration and even with your memory.
3.Emotional, psychological, and cognitive changes
As parts of the brain get damaged, TBI can also result in ongoing complications related to emotional, cognitive, and psychological complications, such as:
- Impaired memory
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep difficulties
- Inability to manage time and get things done
- Aggression
- Personality changes
- Irritability and mood changes
- Neurodegenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia
4.Social outcomes
Due to the negative impacts of traumatic brain injury after car accidents or other causes, persons with TBI are more likely to experience unemployment due to disability or inability to get things done. They are also more at risk of using illicit drugs.
Someone suffering from the long-term effects of TBI is more prone to need help for daily activities and have continuous visits to the hospital for recurrent treatment. TBI can also become a societal problem since the healthcare system would have to spend resources on TBI patients in the long run.
The saddest part is how one can become a burden to friends and family, who despite their good intentions, would have to switch their way of life around to accommodate the TBI patient with long-term disability.
Do you have a head injury after a motor vehicle collision?
Brain injury after car accidents can be tough for the injured, his or her family members, and friends. The long-term effects can drastically affect the victim’s quality of life. It is important to immediately receive medical care, patient rehabilitation services, and ongoing chronic disease management to improve the lives of accident victims with TBI.
A key to making sure that you or your loved one get through this is to have a strong representation from experienced brain injury lawyers. Allowing Farahi Law Firm to take care of your case will get you the medical care you need and win for you the maximum compensation you deserve for the negligence of others. Call us today at (844) 824-2955 for a free consultation on your case.
