How Can Traumatic Brain Injury Affect a Person’s Life?

Traumatic brain injury is usually caused by a violent blow or sudden jolt to the head, such as a car accident or a fall. You can also suffer a traumatic brain injury if something penetrates your brain tissue, like a bullet or a piece of your skull after an injury. A traumatic brain injury can range from mild, which may be temporary, to severe, which may include bruising, bleeding, and torn tissues.

A severe traumatic brain injury can have long-term complications or lead to death. After a traumatic brain injury, there are complications that may be permanent. Getting back substantial brain injury compensation is important as it can physically and mentally affect the victim possibly for life.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

After a mild traumatic brain injury, you may lose consciousness for a short time, ranging from seconds to minutes. Even if you do not lose consciousness, you may feel dazed, confused, and disoriented immediately after the injury. You may develop a headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, or speech problems.

Even days or weeks after the injury, you may have memory or concentration problems, mood swings, or feelings of depression. In most cases, mild traumatic brain injuries resolve themselves, and your symptoms should diminish over time.

Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries

If you suffer a head injury and are unconscious for several minutes or hours, it is possible you suffered a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Your headache will be consistent, and it may worsen over time. You could suffer convulsions, and one or both pupils may be dilated. People who have suffered moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries are very confused and agitated, and they can be combative. Your speech may also be slurred, and you could fall into a coma.

Seizures

One of the long-term effects of a traumatic brain injury is seizures. Even after you have recovered from the injury, you could develop post-traumatic epilepsy depending on the portion of the brain that is injured.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy affects 10 percent of people with traumatic brain injuries. Approximately 50 percent of seizures occur in the first 24 hours, with 25 percent occurring within the first hour after an injury. About 1 in 50 people who suffer a traumatic brain injury develop post-traumatic epilepsy, which means they are at risk for seizures long after the injury.

 Other Long-Term Physical Problems

After a traumatic brain injury, blood vessels in the brain could be damaged. Damage to the blood vessels can lead to stroke and blood clots. It is also possible that cerebrospinal fluid could build up in the, which could cause swelling and pressure. You could also suffer from frequent headaches that may last just a few days but could last months or years. Many traumatic brain injury victims suffer from dizziness long after the injury, as well.

Personality Changes

Traumatic brain injuries can cause dramatic changes in personality, again depending on what part of the brain was injured. Damage to the frontal and temporal lobes as well as the amygdala or hippocampus can cause:

• Agitation
• Impaired impulse control
• Memory impairment
• Physical aggression
• Verbal attacks
• Volatile emotions

Someone who has suffered a traumatic brain injury may not be able to make decisions or solve problems in a way they could before. Memory impairment could cause aggressive outbursts as the injured person becomes frustrated that they don’t remember or cannot do something they could before the injury.

If you or a loved one have suffered a traumatic brain injury that has left you with permanent physical or emotional issues, contact an attorney to arrange for a no obligation consultation to see what rights you may have under the law. If you’re in New York, to protect your rights, hire a Nassau personal injury lawyer to help with your case.