Many TBI cases are preventable events, such as automobile crashes, workplace accidents, and slips and falls. There is also medical evidence to suggest that brain injury at birth can be a cause of cerebral palsy. Children are more open to getting cerebral palsy as a result of a preventable event during childhood.
How Do You Get a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury, also called a TBI, is caused by a blow to the head, sudden jerking forces, or by an injury that punctures the brain. Brain injuries can impair critical functions such as speech, vision and memory.
Some cases of TBI aren’t serious. This is usually something like a mild concussion. In fact, most injuries to the brain aren’t critical. However, severe TBI’s can be characterized by an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia.
Traumatic brain injury is difficult to detect because the signs of serious brain damage aren’t usually obvious. In many cases, the symptoms can be attributed to another cause. Symptoms of TBI include:
Headaches
Dizziness
Fatigue
Memory loss
Inability to focus
Sensitivity to noise and light
Depression
Coma
Death
Any trauma to the head can lead to TBI. According to the CDC the leading causes of brain injuries are:
Falls are the leading cause of TBI in the U.S., accounting for 35 percent of head injuries. Falls cause 50 percent of the TBIs among children age 14 or younger and six of every 10 TBI cases among adults 65 years old and older.
Motor vehicle wrecks – Car accidents cause 17 percent of all TBI cases and are the leading cause of all TBI-related deaths (32 percent).
Struck by events – About 16.5 percent of TBI cases are caused by collisions with a moving or stationary object. For instance, a TBI may result from falling off of a ladder on a construction site, or by being struck in the head by heavy machinery at work.
Traumatic Brain Injuries are Often Silent Injuries
Serious injury to the brain can be devastating and life-altering. What’s worse, these injuries aren’t always obvious to the outside world. That’s why traumatic brain injuries are often referred to as invisible injuries or as the silent epidemic.
If you’ve suffered a TBI, your life changed in that moment, but your injury may not be visible. The silent nature of TBIs can compound the seriousness of their psychologically damaging effects.
Furthermore, recovering from a TBI is often a lifelong event that you, your family, friends, loved ones, and caregivers. The emotional, physical, and financial strain can be overwhelming.
Don’t Stay Quiet About a Potential Brain Injury
Seemingly minor brain traumas are often ignored to the detriment of everyone involved. Just because brain injuries can’t be seen, they can wreak havoc on their victims, especially if they’re left untreated.
Even minor brain trauma can cause major health complications over time. But this has been something most people didn’t understand.
To combat the lack of knowledge, TBI victims are sharing their stories of injury, impact, and recovery for the benefit of all. These first-hand accounts allow us to better understand the nature of TBIs and shed light on their diagnosis and treatment.
No Head Trauma is Too Minor to Get Checked Out
Your brain makes you who you are, but your brain is also extremely delicate. A seemingly minor traumatic event can cause damage to specific areas of the brain. And this can prove life altering. Such events can take place nearly anytime and nearly anywhere.
If you’ve been in an accident or incident that caused your head to be jolted and/or if you’re experiencing any of the TBI warning symptoms, don’t hesitate to seek immediate medical attention. Your health and your future might depend upon it.
Don’t let your minor head trauma become another invisible injury statistic. Your health is too important not to err on the side of caution.
What are the Long Term Consequences of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Even sufferers of the most minor TBIs can experience lasting consequences. Your brain is in control of your body’s functioning, and even a minor TBI can mess with that, often in unpredictable ways.
TBIs can affect your cognitive functioning, your speech and language skills, and your senses (including hearing and smell). Additionally, victims of TBIs are often afflicted with seizures that can become chronic.
Beyond the physical consequences are the long-term emotional and psychological consequences, which can be frustrating. Often times, sufferers are unable to control their emotions in the same way that they could pre-injury. Depression and social malaise are common and often lead to self-isolation .
How Does an Attorney Handle a TBI Injury Case?
If you’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury, you know it’s truly traumatic. If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, wrongful conduct, or recklessness, you’re likely entitled to legal compensation. As a TBI victim you are looking at a lifetime of uniquely complex challenges that are likely to be invisible to the outside world. This can make your physical, emotional, and financial burden that much more difficult.
Additionally, your claim will evolve over time, often in unpredictable ways. As a result, it can easily become overwhelming.
To add insult to injury, your health insurance provider won’t have your best interests in mind, and could push for a fast and cheap settlement that doesn’t address your evolving physical, emotional, and financial needs.
Don’t despair. An experienced South Carolina law firm with expertise in TBI claims like yours can help. Your case matters and it’s imperative that you preserve your rights by retaining legal counsel that’s determined to fight for what’s rightfully yours. The right firm for your TBI case will have the resources to dig deep into the evidence and legally justify your TBI claim’s full value.
The skilled legal counsel representing your TBI claim will need to work past the superficialities of your case and toward an ironclad presentation of the prevailing facts. This may mean running interference with your health insurance provider, but it means much more than that:
Medical Experts
Your legal representation will work with experts to help cull out the salient medical facts that provide a reliable overview of your TBI claim and the resulting long-lasting deleterious effect on your life.
Evidence
Your legal team will skillfully compile and create a comprehensive narrative of the evidence that relates to your unique TBI case, including photos, videos, witness statements, accident reports, police records, and whatever else is necessary.
Expenses
Assessing your probable overall expenses and needs as you move forward with your life post-injury – to include a comprehensive account of expenses as they relate to your resulting need for medical care, healthcare, medical and daily-living assistance, and housing.
Your Charleston Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
Any injury involving your brain is serious. After all, it is your brain and it’s what makes you uniquely you. Therefore, your TBI claim is crucial to your future health and wellbeing. Don’t leave it to the discretion of your insurer or anyone else.
Contact an experienced Charleston, South Carolina legal firm with the skill, expertise, and commitment to guide your case to its most satisfactory conclusion. Your legal team will determinedly extract the necessary evidence and will expertly craft your claim in support of your rights and your future.
Contact Frank Hartman to Represent Your Brain Injury Case
If you or someone you love has suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the result of another person’s negligent or reckless conduct, the Hartman Law Firm, LLC can help. Our Charleston office represents clients throughout South Carolina.
