TBI Symptoms: Recovering Compensation After Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries can happen to anyone. From suffering concussions on the football field to experiencing life-altering head trauma after car accidents, brain injuries manifest in various ways. Some patients recover within a week, while others suffer from permanent disabilities. Unfortunately, many claimants struggle to recognize the symptoms of mild traumatic brain injuries or secondary conditions after an accident.

After car crashes, recreational accidents, or falls, many symptoms such as personality changes, mood swings, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating may indicate brain trauma. If you or your loved one struggle with physical, emotional, or mental symptoms after a head injury, consider discussing your legal options with a local brain injury attorney.

Common Causes of Head Trauma in the United States

As the name suggests, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) occur when an outside force or event causes brain damage. Falls are the leading causes of brain trauma among children and the elderly, while motor vehicle crashes contribute to many adult head injuries. Because TBI symptoms may take hours or days to manifest (often worsening as the brain swells), parents and elderly care workers may miss vital signs of brain trauma.

Even adults often ignore worsening headaches, cerebral leakage, and irritability following accidents.

Injured claimants and their loved ones should always seek medical help and receive continuous monitoring for brain trauma after:

• Car and truck accidents
• Motorcycle and bicycle crashes
• Slip and falls
• Construction accidents (such as falls from roofs and ladders)
• Electrocution
• Recreational sports concussions
• Struck-by and spectator injuries
• Domestic assaults and childhood abuse (such as shaken baby syndrome)
• Penetrating blast and shrapnel injuries (open traumatic brain injuries)

Even seemingly minor head bumps can trigger brain hemorrhaging and associated swelling, resulting in hypoxic brain injuries. Never underestimate the potential severity of head trauma, especially if symptoms worsen or persist over time. Brain injury lawyers may help claimants suffering from traumatic brain injuries demand compensation for lost wages and cognitive therapy as they recover from negligently inflicted head trauma.

Categorizing Traumatic Brain Injuries

The level of force (the speed of the crash or height of the fall) may dictate the severity of the brain injury, but even if doctors categorize your TBIs as mild, you could face lifelong consequences. The descriptions refer to the initial presentation of symptoms, not to outcomes. Even patients with seemingly minor TBI should follow up with medical professionals and, if necessary, seek legal advice.

Signs and Symptoms of Mild Brain Trauma

Some patients receive a diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injuries, generally categorized by temporary pain, blurry vision, and brief loss of consciousness. Many concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries, though this does not mean they cannot have lasting effects.

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of minor brain trauma may include:

Patients who continue experiencing these symptoms may have developed post-concussion syndrome. Even “mild” brain injuries manifest in unique ways and could worsen with time.

Signs and Symptoms of Moderate Brain Trauma

The symptoms of moderate brain trauma generally mirror the symptoms of mild brain trauma. However, doctors diagnose patients with moderate traumatic brain injuries if they remained unconscious for more than a few minutes and complain of persistent or worsening headaches. Medical professionals also look for dilated pupils, continued vomiting, and symptoms of neurological damage. Numbness and tingling in fingers, slurred speech, and sudden irritability all indicate more serious brain trauma.

Signs and Symptoms of Severe Brain Trauma

Immediately following severe head trauma, patients with serious brain injuries typically exhibit these symptoms and more:

As the brain controls all life-sustaining functions, severe head injuries can result in brain death or long-term disabilities. Some patients never recover from this trauma, leaving families to seek compensation on their behalf. Brain injury lawyers often help patients, legal guardians, and family members demand damages for full-time nursing care, lost careers, and specialized cognitive rehabilitation in such cases. Attorneys might also work with families considering wrongful death litigation following their loved one’s fatal head trauma.

Symptoms of Brain Trauma in Children

Children under four have an increased risk of sustaining traumatic brain injuries. However, parents often miss the injuring event. Whether kids stumble while learning to walk or trip on the playground, young children cannot express their symptoms. Parents should closely monitor kids for behavioral changes after potential head trauma. The most common signs of traumatic brain injuries in children include sudden changes in eating or nursing habits, depression, seizures, lost interest in toys, persistent crying, and lack of focus.

Adoptive and foster parents should also monitor young children for these symptoms, as many such children experienced caretaker abuse. Kids with early childhood brain trauma often suffer from attention disorders and cognitive disabilities necessitating specialized education and care. Brain injury lawyers can work with parents and guardians to recover damages from negligent caretakers and insurers in appropriate cases.

Complications Associated with Serious Brain Trauma

The trauma associated with head injuries often triggers certain secondary conditions. In addition to direct brain damage, claimants may suffer from injuries to the blood vessels and nerves surrounding the brain.

Damage to one of the brain’s 12 cranial nerves may cause:

Potentially fatal diffuse axonal injuries (DAI) may also accompany general head trauma. DAIs occur when the accident force tears the brainstem’s delicate nerve fibers. Because these fibers control life-sustaining functions, severe tears often result in a coma or death.

Brain injury patients should also monitor for symptoms of hydrocephalus (water on the brain), blood vessel damage, and brain infections such as meningitis. Hydrocephalus refers to the building up of brain fluid deep within brain tissue, a condition that puts severe pressure on the brain. Specific hydrocephalus signs include sunken eyes, abnormally large head size, muscle deficits, incontinence, difficulty walking, and bulging on top of the head.

Penetrating brain injuries or head trauma requiring surgical intervention also increases the patient’s risk of infection. While many of these symptoms mirror the symptoms associated with brain injuries, patients with brain infections often develop a fever.

Understanding and Monitoring for Secondary Brain Conditions

Even patients with mild traumatic brain injuries should look for signs of post-concussion syndrome and second impact syndrome (SIS) after the accident. Doctors may diagnose patients with post-concussion syndrome when they experience persistent concussion-related symptoms after their expected recovery date. Most (but not all) patients recover from mild TBI within a few weeks or months.

While brain scans may return normal, claimants with post-concussion syndrome often continue suffering from headaches, concentration issues, memory loss, and vertigo for months or years after the traumatic event. Tension headaches and migraines are the most common symptoms, and even patients who did not lose consciousness may develop this secondary condition. Debilitating migraines often impact every aspect of the patient’s life and career. With legal help, claimants may recover for their losses and treatment expenses associated with post-concussion syndrome.

Unfortunately, second impact syndrome (SIS) has a high mortality rate. This rare condition most commonly occurs in athletes who suffer multiple head injuries within ten days. Scientists believe that changes in brain chemistry after the initial trauma make the brain more susceptible to sudden brain herniations after a second trauma.

Patients often die within five minutes of suffering a second mild traumatic brain injury during the healing process. This is why athletes must abide by certain concussion protocols, and claimants in high-risk jobs should take the necessary time off work. Lawyers may help clients recover lost wages during this period.

TBIs and Degenerative Brain Diseases

Multiple or even one head trauma increases your risk of developing these degenerative brain conditions:

• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – Generally seen in professional athletes, especially football players and boxers, decades after retirement. CTE impacts memory, personality, speech, balance, and critical thinking skills. Many athletes with CTE suffer from extreme depression, substance abuse issues, and suicidal thoughts.
• Dementia – Traumatic brain injuries may lead to early-onset dementia, resulting in memory loss, communication difficulties, and the inability to perform daily activities.
• Alzheimer’s disease – With this severe form of dementia, patients eventually lose the ability to communicate and respond to environmental stimuli. Patients under 65 may develop this debilitating condition years or decades after serious head trauma.
• Parkinson’s disease – A nervous system disorder impacting movement and muscle control. Patients may eventually lose their ability to walk, speak, or even breathe without aid. This disease may develop if patients suffered from cranial nerve damage after brain trauma.

Many victims of negligently inflicted brain injuries do not consider the potential long-term consequence of their injuries. Claimants should speak with medical professionals and their attorneys about their risk of developing these conditions before making insurance settlement demands.

Treating the Long-Term Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injuries

Moderate to severe brain injuries usually result in long-term disabilities. Patients may experience an array of physical, intellectual, and emotional symptoms following their initial recovery. These conditions often impact their careers, daily activities, overall health, and family life. Claimants diagnosed with serious traumatic brain injuries generally experience one or more of the following long-term conditions.

Cognitive (Intellectual) Disabilities and Problems

Many brain injury patients have difficulty focusing and thinking critically after the accident. It often takes these patients longer to absorb, process, and respond to information and environmental stimuli. This delay results in multitasking, problem-solving, learning, planning, and organizing difficulties. Damage to certain brain areas can also impact the claimant’s memory, reasoning skills, and judgment.

Children with severe brain trauma frequently suffer from learning disabilities. Brain injury lawyers may help claimants recover needed compensation from liable parties for specialized education and occupational therapy costs.

Behavioral Changes & Communication Difficulties

Serious brain trauma often leads to unexpected personality changes, including increased irritability, anxiety, and depression. Children may struggle to communicate effectively with peers or understand complex speech. These difficulties often manifest in social problems when patients cannot stay on topic, meaningfully participate in conversations, or process nonverbal signals and cues.

These patients may require specialized companionship care and social therapy that may cost tens of thousands each year. In such cases, brain injury lawyers often work with dedicated therapists to estimate care costs and demand financial settlements.

Physical and Sensory Conditions

Many critical traumatic brain injuries, including those resulting in skull fractures and brain hemorrhaging, cause secondary physical and sensory conditions. From blindness and hearing loss to migraines and seizures, brain trauma’s physical manifestations can debilitate patients.

If claimants continue struggling with physical symptoms even after their initial recovery, they should discuss their legal rights with local brain injury counsel, including demanding compensation for necessary medical equipment, physical therapy, and pain.

Recovering Financial Compensation for Traumatically Inflicted Brain Injuries

With over 100 billion neurons, scientists marvel at the human brain’s complexity. Serious head trauma can irreparably damage many of the brain’s neurons, blood vessels, and tissues, necessitating years of trial-and-error treatments. Claimants suffering from negligently inflicted traumatic brain injuries should always consider working with experienced TBI lawyers after an accident.

Insurers often disclaim liability or refuse to compensate claimants for the realistic social, physical, and cognitive disabilities caused by brain trauma. Contact a brain injury attorney who may be able to help you understand your legal rights and demand necessary compensation for lost wages, medical bills, and therapy costs without any upfront or out-of-pocket costs.