If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), you could develop complications that impact your sensation, mobility, and cognitive functioning. During the past few decades, healthcare advances have improved how medical professionals diagnose and treat head injuries.

Unfortunately, there are still countless individuals and families that are negatively impacted by TBIs every year. If you suffer neurological damage in a traumatic accident, you must seek medical care as quickly as possible. There are a few essential points that you should keep in mind about these severe injuries.

A traumatic brain injury is defined as any blow to the head that causes a change in the brain’s functions. Sometimes, this change is temporary, and in other cases, it may be permanent. There are two types of brain injuries:

• Penetrating Brain Injuries: Often referred to as open head injuries, an object pierces the surface of the skull and damages the brain tissue underneath. This object may be a knife, a piece of metal, a shard of glass, or even shrapnel. In other situations, a penetrating injury occurs when a bone fragment following a skull fracture penetrates the brain tissue. This brain injury is often seen in motor vehicle accidents or slipped and fall injuries.
• Closed Brain Injuries: In a closed head injury, the skull is left intact; however, neurological tissue can still be damaged severely. A sudden shift in momentum can cause the brain to strike the edges of the skull, commonly seen in an auto accident. Sometimes, a closed head injury is focal, impacting only one part of the brain. In other scenarios, this injury can be diffuse, affecting tissues throughout the central nervous system.

Following a head injury, several types of brain damage might take place. Some of these include:

• Tearing: Sometimes, small tears in the brain can occur, leading to severe neuronal damage. Sometimes, these tears are microscopic and cannot be seen on imaging scans such as a CT or MRI.
• Bleeding: Bleeding is one of the most common types of brain damage. If blood vessels throughout the brain are torn, they will bleed. Sometimes, blood can pool in certain brain parts, leading to a hematoma. This can lead to increased pressure, severely impairing the brain’s ability to function.
• Swelling: This is a dangerous type of brain damage following a blow to the head. As the brain swells, it will start encroaching on the skull’s edges. This will lead to increased intracranial pressure, which might lead to herniation. If this takes place, it could lead to irreversible complications.

Suisun City has a few common causes of traumatic brain injuries. Some of these include:

• Auto Accidents: While any motor vehicle accident can lead to a TBI, some underlying causes include alcohol and drug-impaired driving. Violations of simple safety laws, such as the right-of-way rules and unsafe lane changes, can also lead to serious road traffic collisions. Rollover accidents and vehicular ejections are common causes of TBIs.
• Falls: Falls are among the most common causes of head injuries. This can include a fall at a construction site, a slip and fall on a wet floor, or a fall from a roof. If someone strikes their head on the ground, this can lead to a concussion, a cerebral contusion, or worse.
• Defective Products: Defective products can also lead to brain injury. Defective products include dangerous chemicals, broken vehicular parts, or heavy machinery.

Regardless of how a brain injury happens, everyone needs to seek medical care as quickly as possible. Then, speak with an experienced brain injury lawyer in Suisun City to learn more about your legal options.

The video below provides an overview of traumatic brain injuries.

A traumatic brain injury is always serious and deserves the attention of trained medical professionals. If someone you love has suffered a brain injury in an accident, please call our Suisun brain injury lawyers at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly advice. See our past verdicts and settlements.

^{Editor’s Note: updated [cha 9.26.23] Photo by Natasha Connell on Unsplash dr cha [cs 709]}