Brain injury victims in California suffer from unpredictable effects

Brain injuries are highly unpredictable because victims often don’t know what symptoms will develop and how long these effects will last.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traumatic brain injuries contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability in California and throughout the rest of the country each year. In 2010, approximately 2.5 million brain injuries occurred either as an isolated event or in combination with another injury.

These types of injuries occur when the scalp, skull or brain is harmed due to inflicted trauma and are extremely unpredictable in terms of their effects and how well the victim is able to recover. While some injuries may only lead to a period of slight confusion, others can cause serious problems with the brain that last for many years.

Potential consequences

How a person is effected brain injury usually varies by the situation. For some people, the symptoms of this injury may start to show themselves right away while others may find that these symptoms develop gradually over several hours or days.

According to the Mayo Clinic, brain injury victims may also suffer from a variety of different consequences which include altered consciousness, nerve damage, blood vessel damage, intellectual problems, communication problems and behavioral changes. For instance, after a head injury, a person may have a difficult time remembering things, experience paralysis in their facial muscles, deal with reoccurring seizures or struggle to communicate with others.

However, there is no guarantee that the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury will ever go away completely. The perseverance of these consequences may be affected by how the victim responds to treatment, their preexisting medical conditions, the severity of the injury and other circumstances surrounding the accident.

Recovering after a brain injury

After the incurrence of a brain injury, the Brain Injury Association of America states that victims should do the following:

• Get plenty of rest and not rush back into normal daily activities, such as going to work or attending school.
• Try to avoid activities and situations that could result in another injury or jolt to the head.
• Wait to ride a bike, drive a car or operate heavy machinery until permission from a medical professional to do so is received.
• Only take medications approved by their doctor.

Because the effects of a brain injury, how long it will take to recover from and treatment needs are unpredictable after an accident, determining how much compensation is necessary to cover expenses related to medical care, rehabilitation and the cost of pain and suffering can be a difficult task to accomplish. If you were recently in an accident and suffered a head injury, consult with an attorney who can help you decide how much compensation is needed.

Keywords: TBI, brain injury, accident