Traumatic brain injury is one of the most common types of injuries from car accidents in New York. You should know what the symptoms are and why it’s so important to promptly seek medical treatment for a traumatic brain injury.
What is a traumatic brain injury?
A TBI is an injury to the brain from an external force to the head. Motor vehicle accidents cause your brain to jerk back and forth inside your skull. Your brain can sustain bruising and other damage from this violent jostling. The initial injury at the point of impact is the primary injury. Swelling of the brain that comes later is the secondary injury and is often more harmful than the primary injury.
You should always receive a checkup as soon as possible after an accident. Return to the doctor if you begin experiencing symptoms like headaches, dizziness, confusion or nausea. It’s possible for an injury to not show up on medical tests until days or weeks after the accident.
What are the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury?
There are a lot of symptoms that you could experience with a TBI. The exact parts of the brain impacted determine what your symptoms are. You should watch out for fatigue, visual problems, inability to concentrate, sleep disturbances, irritability, loss of balance, depression, vomiting, memory loss, loss of consciousness and seizures.
Even if you only have one of the symptoms of TBI, you should go to the doctor. Prompt treatment of a TBI helps prevent permanent or severe damage to the brain. Once a TBI is severe, it’s difficult to treat. It’s also important that you listen to your doctor’s instructions. You might feel fine, but you need to take it easy and rest to let your brain fully heal.
Traumatic brain injuries are serious injuries; it doesn’t take a bad accident to cause trauma to the brain, either. You should take the symptoms seriously and follow your treatment plan.