The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over one million Americans per year visit doctors due to brain injuries, and nearly 50,000 per year lose their lives. It’s also estimated that over 5 million Americans – about 1.5% of the U.S. population – live with disabilities due to brain injuries. These injuries can be devastating and life-changing; they can diminish a person’s quality of life, as well as place a burden of care on loved ones when the injuries are particularly severe. What used to be regular, everyday functions become quite difficult, and cognitive/motor abilities may be impaired or significantly reduced for some time to come.
Anyone who has fallen victim to another’s negligence deserves to be fully compensated for their injuries and losses. If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in an accident, contact our attorneys today for a free consultation.
Here are the most common types of brain injuries sustained in accidents:
- Concussions – While many concussions are considered “mild” TBIs, they should never be ignored under any circumstances. If a person suffers a concussion and returns to physical activity before it has fully healed, a second injury could result in Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), a life-threatening condition which causes swelling of the brain, potentially leading to permanent damage and even death.
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) – Defined simply as, “Brain dysfunction caused by an outside force, usually a violent blow to the head,” this term encompasses many serious injuries to the brain.
- Penetrating brain injuries – These injuries involve a foreign object passing through the skull and penetrating the dura matter which surrounds the brain. They are commonly caused by high-velocity projectiles, such as bullets or shrapnel, or lower-velocity piercings, such as a stab wound or piece of bone lodged in brain tissue due to a skull fracture. Victims who have suffered penetrating brain injuries may lose abilities associated with the injured area of the brain and suffer respiratory problems, epilepsy, or other medical complications.
- Cerebral contusions – These are commonly referred to as “bruises on the brain” and are usually caused by head trauma. They may exist on one or more sides of the brain and can cause seizures, headaches, confusion, nausea and vomiting, sensory problems, and loss of consciousness. Cerebral contusions always require immediate medical evaluation and close monitoring to control the injury and prevent any complications from arising.
- Intracranial hemorrhages – When a brain injury occurs, a blood vessel inside the skull may leak or rupture, resulting in intracranial bleeding. This can lead to dangerous pressure inside the skull, causing further damage to brain tissue, and bleeding in the brain tissue (cerebral hemorrhage) can also occur. Cerebral and intracranial hemorrhages always require immediate medical attention, as they can lead to stroke, coma, or even death in severe cases.
Symptoms of brain injuries are sometimes difficult to detect, but are often of a neurological or behavioral nature. They include:
- Sensory – Difficulties with interpretation of movement, touch, temperature, fine discrimination, and limb-position
- Perceptual – Affecting “the integration or patterning of sensory impressions into psychologically meaningful data”
- Hearing – Decreased or lost hearing, higher sensitivity to sounds, or ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Visual – Double vision (diplopia), blurred vision, poor depth perception, intolerance of light (photophobia), involuntary eye movements (nystagmus), or partial or total loss of vision
- Smell/taste – Lost or diminished sense of smell (anosmia) or taste
- Seizures – A variety of convulsions associated with epilepsy which may involve disruption of motor movements, sensory perception, or general consciousness
- Other physical changes – These include chronic pain, diminished control of bowel or bladder, loss of stamina, sleep disorders, and changes in appetite.
About 5.3 million Americans currently live with medical conditions resulting from life changing injuries to the brain, including physical, emotional, or cognitive debilitations such as attention deficit, communication problems, short- or long-term memory loss, chronic headaches and/or migraines, seizures, and speech impairments. Neuropsychiatric problems resulting from a TBI can diminish a person’s quality of life, and studies have also shown that repetitive injuries can result in neuropsychiatric problems for “years or even decades” after the initial impact; this condition is known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and diagnosed posthumously.
These debilitations often require the lifelong assistance of medical professionals, such as for counseling, physical rehabilitation, physical/speech therapy, vocational retraining, and special equipment to assist in daily functions. The costs of this care, combined with lost income over years and decades, can result in astronomical financial losses if the injury claim for the accident was not handled properly. This is where we come in: our attorneys will fight to ensure that you receive full compensation for all expenses and losses, both present and future, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
We at 844 See Mike are proud to serve our fellow citizens in personal injury cases, especially when you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, and we are fully committed to protecting your rights and ensuring that the other party is held legally accountable when negligence occurs. We will fight until the very end to ensure that you are fully compensated for all injuries and losses resulting from the accident, and you won’t owe us a dime for our services.
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in an accident, contact 844 See Mike today for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based personal injury law firm, and helping our clients is about counseling, advocating, and ultimately solving problems. With years of experience successfully representing the people and not the powerful, we will file your claim and take care of the insurance company, the bills, and the lost income. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you. Lastly, our personal injury lawyers are not paid attorney fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.
