What Are Some of the Most Common Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Brain injuries are frequently sustained in vehicle accidents. Suffering a brain injury can be devastating and can cause long-term health issues. Brain injuries can be as mild or moderate as a concussion to severe like a Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. Because traumatic brain injuries and concussions can be confused with another and because traumatic brain injuries are serious injuries that should not go untreated, it’s important to understand the signs of a TBI.

What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury occurs when the brain is impacted in such a way as to cause the brain to move violently within the skull and causes damage to the brain and/or its cells.

Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury

The main difference between a concussion and a traumatic brain injury is that concussions are typically mild and temporary and a TBI is more severe and long-lasting. Still, concussions are also considered to be a type of traumatic brain injury.

If you’ve been in an accident, be on the lookout for the following telltale signs of a severe TBI:

• Nagging headache
• Being unconscious or comatose for up to hours
• Convulsions or seizures
• Nausea or vomiting
• Nose or ears drainage (clear)
• Pupil dilation
• Severe lethargy
• Numbness and/or weakness of phalanges
• Coordination loss
• Slurred speech
• Significant confusion
• Agitation or behavior unlike your normal self

The symptoms of less severe traumatic brain injury are very similar to those of severe TBI but tend to be milder. These symptoms include:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Nausea or vomiting
• Issues with balance and/or dizziness
• Slurred speech
• Blurred vision
• Tinnitus
• Changes in smell or taste
• Sound or light sensitivity
• Being unconscious for up to several minutes or confusion or disorientation
• Changes in ability to concentrate or remember things
• Insomnia
• Anxiety and/or depression
• Lethargy
• Mood swings

The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury don’t necessarily appear right away following an accident or other event. They can appear weeks later. Milder traumatic brain injuries may resolve themselves within days, but more severe TBIs may take months to resolve or may be permanent.

There is some overlap between the symptoms for concussions and more severe traumatic brain injuries, but the signs of a more severe traumatic brain injury are more debilitating and likely will require immediate medical attention. Nonetheless, all types of traumatic brain injury should be properly diagnosed and treated by a medical professional.

Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics

The following are some vital statistics to know about traumatic brain injuries:

• The top causes of traumatic brain injuries in the United States in 2017 were car/truck accidents (24.5%) and unintentional falls (49.1%).
• The majority of traumatic brain injuries in the United States in 2017 were sustained by adults over the age of 75 (320.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 people). The minority of traumatic brain injuries in the United States that same year were sustained by adults between the ages of 55 and 64 (67.5 hospitalizations per 100,000 people).
• Children suffered 7.8% of all TBIs resulting in hospitalization in 2017 (out of 224,000 hospitalizations for TBIs in the same year).
• In Virginia, there were 5,078 hospitalizations for TBIs and 1,644 traumatic brain injuries resulting in death in 2016.
• Over a quarter of a million residents in Virginia are disabled as a result of suffering traumatic or non-traumatic (stroke) brain injuries.

Call Breit Law, P.C.  to Help You Today

If you sustained a traumatic brain injury or other injuries in an accident due to no fault of your own, you may be entitled to compensation. Virginia Beach traumatic brain injury attorney William Breit and the team at Breit Law, P.C. could help you seek the justice you deserve. Call us today at 757-456-0333 or reach out to us online for a 100% free and confidential consultation.