What is a Traumatic Brain Injury? - Jones Law Group - Your Lawyers for Life

What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

An estimated 1.5 million Americans develop a traumatic brain injury every year. These injuries happen when the brain’s normal functions are disrupted. A disruption like this can occur when a person’s head is impacted in some way. That can happen when the head forcefully meets a surface or sustains a blow. If someone’s head is penetrated by a foreign object, or even a loose bone within a person’s own body, a TBI can happen from a puncture as well.

Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury

TBIs are often associated with contact sports like football. You don’t have to be an athlete to sustain these types of injuries though. Everyday mishaps like slip and fall accidents commonly lead to traumatic brain injuries. More than one in three falls impact the head. Sometimes significant falls, like those from ladders and platforms, happen in workplace accidents. Commonplace falls, like ones that happen on wet floors, look less intimidating. However, they can lead to serious head injuries as well. Car accidents are the second leading cause of TBIs. A traveller’s head could come into contact with a windshield, window, or steering wheel. The sheer force alone can cause a TBI, even if no objects strike the head.

Complications Associated with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Over 30% of people with TBIs continue to have excruciating headaches on an ongoing basis. These headaches can come with nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, as well as fatigue. Some TBI patients develop seizures also.

Traumatic brain injuries can change an accident victim’s behavior. One of the brain’s many functions is decision-making. When it’s injured, people may take unsafe risks they never would have before. They can become unreasonably irritable, even aggressive or violent, as well. This affects friendships and family bonds for the worst. It can also destroy careers.

Other cognitive functions like memory and information processing take a hit after a TBI. As a result, it is difficult to learn and retain new skills. This can be extremely frustrating in work and in school. TBIs are especially devastating to developing brains. Brain injuries are the number one cause of disability in children in the United States.

As the brain houses critical nerves, TBI-related nerve damage can make accident victims lose control over their muscles. Loss of balance is also common.

Who’s Liable for my Brain Injury?

Whoever caused the accident that led to your brain injury can be held liable. In the case of a car accident, that is most often the negligent driver of the other vehicle involved. When an accident happens at a business, there are typically more possibilities. A personal injury attorney can investigate whether the property owner, management, or another party is responsible. There are many accidents in which more than one person or entity is negligent. Likewise, if a TBI happens because of medical malpractice, several healthcare workers may have contributed to the injury. In those situations, the attorney representing you can advise you about whether to pursue compensation from multiple parties.

What is my Traumatic Brain Injury Claim Worth?

The extent of damage varies from one traumatic brain injury to the next. That is why the amount of compensation that you can recover is not a set number. In any personal injury case, medical bills are taken into account. This includes expenses like hospital and surgical bills, doctors’ and physical therapy fees, medication costs, and the cost of diagnostic testing.

Likewise, the amount of lost wages also varies. Some TBI patients may only miss work for initial treatment after an accident. In worst case scenarios, accident victims are left permanently disabled due to a TBI.

The adverse effect on your quality of life increases the value of your TBI claim. Over 50% of people with TBIs experience depression within a year of the injury’s onset. Other conditions like fatigue, lack of mental clarity, and cognitive impairments also make life harder than it once was.

How Can a Brain Injury Attorney Help?

A traumatic injury can have lifelong consequences. There is a chance you will need compensation not just for the now, but for the future as well. Insurance companies are well aware of a TBI’s far-reaching effects. Unfortunately, their goal is not to make sure you’re taken care of. They will do their best to get you to settle before you realize your claim’s worth. Resist speaking to these companies directly. Brain injury attorneys are familiar with all the forms of compensation you can collect. A competent, experienced attorney will analyze your medical records and other documentation related to your TBI to determine the true value of your claim.

Contact a Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

If you or or loved one is suffering from the effects of a TBI or other head injury, speak to an experienced brain injury attorney as soon as possible. The lawyers of Jones Law Group have secured maximum compensation for numerous clients’ traumatic brain injuries. We can help you get the best possible outcome for your claim as well. For more information, speak with us today. Our initial case evaluations are free. Call us at 727-571-1333 or contact us online.