Brain damage from a car accident can happen quickly. Car accident head injury statistics say approximately one million people annually receive brain injuries from car accidents. Many brain injuries stemming from car accidents may not be noticeable at first as it may take a few hours for symptoms to show up. You don’t have to be involved in a major crash for your brain to get damaged.
ACCIDENT IMPACT
Persons involved in car accidents, even when low rates of speed are involved, should be mindful of how they are feeling, even though symptoms might not present right away. Brain damage from a car accident can have long-term effects and it can become literally a life and death situation. A person’s head does not have to encounter the vehicle’s windshield, dashboard, or steering wheel for brain damage to occur. When car accidents do involve sudden stopping or violent forces, such as when being hit from the rear or broadside, or obviously if hit head-on, the brain’s soft tissue can be aggressively forced into the skull’s hard bone. This can cause blood vessels to rupture, allowing a variety of potential cognitive issues to occur, paving the way for many health concerns.
BRAIN INJURY SYMPTOMS
Headache, confusion, and nausea are all symptoms that could point toward brain damage from a car accident. When involved in a car accident, you should always be checked out by a medical professional shortly thereafter. If symptoms occur after your initial emergency room or doctor visit that weren’t discovered upon first check, call and/or return. Unexplained sleepiness could be another cause for concern. You do not want a potential brain injury to go undiagnosed.
Secondary brain damage can also occur when brain swelling or bleeding occurs after a car accident and the symptoms are not initially found. It has been reported that if you are diagnosed with one brain injury, you are three times more likely to get a second brain injury if you are involved in another accident.
BRAIN DAMAGE AFFECTS ALL PARTS OF THE BODY
Brain bleed is not a condition to be taken lightly; it can cause quite severe consequences. Brain bleed can quickly and easily damage sensitive brain tissue that can die off and inhibit the brain from functioning, affecting other major organs, including the heart and lungs. If you do feel as though the potential for brain trauma could be there, try not to move around anymore than you have to until help arrives. Sometimes even a little movement could affect a nerve and cause a stroke.
WHO IS AT RISK?
The categories of people most at risk for brain damage from a car accident include young adults and elderly people, but everyone involved in a car crash, whether at high rates of speed or slower speeds, is at significant risk for receiving brain damage. Even though someone may seem “normal” after a car accident, you should take nothing for granted.
There are many things to consider when involved in a car accident that could affect your long-term health and recovery. Contacting a personal injury attorney as soon as possible is a wise move as he/she can often guide you to knowing the right things to do immediately. Car accident head injury statistics report that brain damage happens all too often.