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California residents who get into serious car accidents are often left with injuries. Brain injuries are among the most common.
How Serious Are Brain Injuries?
Brain injuries sustained in a car accident can range in severity from mild to severe. Depending on the impact of the collision and other factors, a person could be left with a traumatic brain injury that ends up being permanent, requiring a lifetime of medical care.
However, these injuries aren’t always immediately apparent. Some TBIs can lie dormant for a few days or weeks until the symptoms appear while others might be obvious right away.
What Types of Brain Injuries Are Common After a Car Accident?
After a car accident, there are different types of TBIs you could sustain. A concussion is very common. It’s a milder brain injury but still requires immediate medical attention. Signs of this TBI are blurred vision, lightheadedness, confusion and even fainting.
When you have a contusion type TBI, it means brain bruising. This kind of brain injury is known as coup-contrecoup if it affects both sides of the brain. Sometimes, surgery is required to remove the contusions, which can cause pain and swelling. In serious cases, this type of brain injury can lead to blood clot risks.
Diffuse axonal is a type of traumatic brain injury that results in tears to the brain’s structure due to severe rotation upon the impact of a car crash. Symptoms of this injury include bad headaches or migraines, memory loss and fainting. In the worst-case scenario, a person could slip into a coma and even die. Some of these injuries are milder and can be treated with rehabilitation.
A penetration brain injury means that an object has penetrated the brain. Doctors can more easily diagnose this type of TBI due to bleeding from the head. Anyone with this injury requires immediate medical attention.