Suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury after an Orlando Car Accident
The brain is far more delicate than many people realize. It can be injured in a variety of ways, including from an auto accident. It doesn’t necessarily even have to be a catastrophic accident for your head to get knocked around, causing the brain to smack against the inside of the skull. Traumatic brain injuries can also result from an object that penetrates the brain.
Some brain injuries are immediately obvious, like a fractured skull, whereas others are more subtle. While not every injury will be life threatening like a brain bleed, it’s still a brain injury that needs to be taken seriously.
Any time you’re involved in an accident with even seemingly minor injuries, if you hit your head, you need to seek medical treatment right away. A traumatic brain injury, often referred to as a TBI, can have effects on your physical, emotional, and cognitive abilities. Failure to treat these symptoms could cause them to get worse and become more severe over time.
Symptoms of Minor Traumatic Brain Injury
With a minor brain injury in an auto accident, you might only lose consciousness for a few seconds to a couple minutes. You may not even suffer a loss of consciousness at all, but you could find yourself confused, disoriented, or dazed. Other symptoms to watch for include:
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Headache
- Difficulty sleeping
- Fatigue
- Drowsiness and/or sleeping more than usual
- Speech problems
- Loss of balance or dizziness
You may have sensory symptoms as well, which can include a sudden sensitivity to sound or light, blurred vision, changes to your ability to smell, ringing in the ears, and/or a bad taste in your mouth. You may have mood swings or suddenly feel depressed or anxious. Memory and concentration issues are also common with mild traumatic brain injuries.
When your brain injury is more severe, you may lose consciousness for a couple minutes to several hours. Symptoms may not appear right away either. It can take several hours or even several days after the accident before symptoms begin to appear.
Long Term Effects
With brain injuries, even mild ones, there is a risk that you will have long term effects. In more serious cases, you may become disabled and find yourself unable to go back to work, or you need in-home assistance. Don’t be fooled by insurance adjusters or their company’s attorneys who try to tell you that your brain injury will heal quickly with no long-term effects in order to get you to settle your case. If you make the mistake of agreeing to a settlement and then find yourself getting worse or needing additional care, the insurance company will not negotiate for another settlement. You will sign a release of all claims, which means they are under no obligation to reopen your case unless you can somehow show breach of contract. This is why it’s so important to retain a knowledgeable Orlando auto accident attorney who can protect your rights and fight for you to obtain a fair settlement.
Contact a Florida Personal Injury Attorney
If you were in an injury accident in Florida, contact the Payer Law today at 866-930-1238 to schedule an initial consultation.
Resource:
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557
