A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is a head injury that results from a violent jolt/blow to the body or head, but it can also happen from an object going through the brain tissue, such as a shattered skull piece or a bullet.
The three common types of brain injuries range from mild or moderate to severe TBI, with serious ones often causing permanent brain damage and the others mild traumatic brain injury having some brain damage that goes away with time.
Typically, milder brain injuries temporarily affect the person’s brain cells. Still, some more serious moderate or severe TBI injuries might result in the person bruising, having torn tissues, bleeding, or incurring various other physical damage to the brain.
Sometimes called non-traumatic, an acquired head injury might not be as traumatic as some others.
Traumatic Brain Injuries Have Many Symptoms
Learning about the health information relating to a TBI is the first step to determining if you require California brain injury legal services from Ehline Law Firm. If someone’s negligence caused the injury, please call (213) 596-9642 to receive your free consultation today.
What’s a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
A TBI occurs when there’s a blow or jolt to the head, and typically, patients show symptoms immediately, but it can take time for them to show up, especially with a mild injury.
What Are the Symptoms of an Open or Closed Head Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries usually have negative psychological and physical effects, and the signs and symptoms might appear immediately or show up in days or weeks to show up.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention claim that emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths make up about 2.8 million head trauma cases in America each year. Permanent brain injury can be devastating.
What Are Physical Symptoms (and More) for Mild TBIs?
The signs of a mild head injury or brain injury may include:
- Dizziness
- Loss of balance
- Speech problems
- Drowsiness or fatigue
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Loss of consciousness
- Blurred vision
- Ringing in the ears
- Changes in the ability to smell
- Bad taste in the mouth
- Sensitivity to sound/light
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling anxious/depressed
- Concentration/memory problems
- Change in blood pressure.
What Are the Symptoms of Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury?
Moderate or severe head or brain injury can have any of the milder brain damage signs of head injuries as well as these:
- Loss of coordination
- Numbness/weakness in toes and fingers
- Inability to wake up from sleep
- Dilation of one/both pupils
- Convulsions and seizures
- Repeated nausea or vomiting
- Persistent headaches
- Lose consciousness for many minutes or hours
- Profound confusion
- Coma
- Blood clots
- Brain swelling
- Slurred speech
- Cerebrospinal fluid buildup
- Agitation and other unusual behavior.
What Are the Symptoms in Young Children?
Infants and children with brain damage may not communicate sensory problems, headaches, and other symptoms after a blow to the head.
These are the symptoms of a mild to severe injury in a child:
- Loss of interest in activities and toys
- Drowsiness
- Sad/depressed mood
- Seizures
- Change in sleeping habits
- Inability to pay attention
- Persistent crying
- Unusually irritable
- Change in nursing or eating habits.
What Are the Causes of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Blows to the head or body often cause a traumatic brain injury, but the damage depends on various factors, such as an acquired brain injury with no issues or severe brain damage.
Common causes for this type of injury include:
- Falls – Falls from the ladder or bed, in the bath, downstairs, and others are widespread for traumatic brain injury, primarily in older adults at the age of 65 or higher. Sports injuries may also occur.
- Motor vehicle accidents – Collisions involving bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and cars can cause injury to the brain or cause a spinal cord injury. (questions over sidewalk riding, making Los Angeles a dangerous place for pedestrians, etc.)
- Violence – Child abuse, domestic violence, gunshot wounds, and other assault options can cause brain damage. Shaken baby syndrome is a severe head injury that happens in infants and is a traumatic brain injury caused by violent shaking.
- Explosive Blasts – The pressure from an underground explosive blast igniting a car vault, for example, can cause severe injuries like a skull fracture and brain injury and reduction of brain function.
What Complications Might Arise from a Brain Injury?
Complications from a head injury include:
- Symptoms lasting for a longer period of time
- Requirement of more CT scans to determine skull fractures
- Neurological disorders and stroke
- Difficulty writing, speaking, and understanding speech
- Blood vessel damage
- Diffuse axonal injury.
People are at a high risk of brain damage if they’re younger than 4, play sports, or are male, but the risk also goes up for elderly adults. Seek medical advice from a doctor if you believe that you may have an injury to the head. If you don’t, a further injury may occur, and normal brain function may not return. Even a mild brain injury requires treatment.
When Should You Call an Attorney?
The first thing to do is get medical attention and appropriate medical care. Still, after that, you should focus on determining if the injury relates to someone’s negligence in the matter, such as malpractice lawsuits and others. If so, call the aggressive and compassionate attorneys at Ehline Law Firm.
Why Should I Choose Ehline Law Firm?
Your health is important, and if someone’s negligence caused the brain damage, it’s essential to speak with a Los Angeles brain injury attorney who is kind, compassionate, and ruthless against insurance companies. Ehline Law Firm has won various awards for excellence, and Michael Ehline has many accolades from news commentators and magazines.
Please call (213) 596-9642 to request a free consultation or use the online consultation form for convenience. Contacting the Brain Injury Association can also get more traumatic brain injury information.
