Certain car crash injuries are minor to moderate. They cause pain and functional limitations but do not irrevocably alter someone’s life. Other injuries are catastrophic, as they cause substantial functional limitations that may persist indefinitely in some cases.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) often produce medical expenses and career challenges that are as serious as those caused by limb loss, paralysis and spinal cord injuries. Despite how severe they can be, quite a few TBIs go undiagnosed in the early days after a car crash.
How can someone with a potentially life-altering injury fail to recognize that they need medical care?
Some TBI symptoms take time to develop
A TBI involves bleeding, inflammation or bruising of the brain. The bleeding or swelling could continue for days after the initial injury, causing more pressure and worse damage to surrounding tissue. Eventually, a TBI might reach a point where it starts producing new symptoms or where existing symptoms become noticeably worse. It can be days or even several weeks after a car crash before people start to notice the warning signs that they have a brain injury.
At that point, they may face a worse long-term prognosis because of the delay in treatment and the progression of the damage to their brains. Additionally, it could become much more difficult for them to secure compensation through an insurance claim or a lawsuit because of the delay in diagnosis.
High-speed crashes, collisions where people hit their heads and wrecks that result in people losing consciousness are all scenarios in which people may be at elevated risk of a TBI. Seeking a thorough medical evaluation can either confirm or rule out the presence of a brain injury. A prompt diagnosis might improve someone’s chances of minimizing their symptoms through medical interventions, such as surgery. They may also have an easier time than someone with a delayed diagnosis obtaining financial compensation.
Understanding why people can overlook potentially severe injuries, like traumatic brain injuries, can help someone appropriately react to a car crash. People with TBIs caused by car crashes often need financial assistance and medical care as they learn to adjust to the symptoms inspired by their brain injuries.