Why Do I Need a Head and Brain Injury Lawyer?

Head and brain injuries are some of the most complex medical issues out there, and research is still being done to determine the best way to prevent and treat these complicated injuries. For a patient or the loved ones of a patient who is suffering a brain injury after an accident or medical malpractice incident, the world can suddenly seem overwhelming. Although the science behind understanding and repairing brain injuries is evolving rapidly, there is still a great deal to be learned about the best way to help affected patients.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention, brain injuries impact 1.5 million Americans every year. This includes skull fractures, brain bleeds, depressed skull injuries, and closed head injuries. Of those affected, 80,000 individuals sustain some kind of long term disabilities from their injury. Many of these patients have a lack of self-awareness regarding the true extent of their injuries.

According to the Head Injury Center, there are four primary causes of serious head injuries:

• Motor vehicle accidents serve as the cause of 51 percent of head injuries
• Falls serve as the cause for 21 percent of head injuries
• Assaults or other incidents of violence make up 12 percent of head injuries
• Sports and recreational activities serve as the cause for 10 percent of head injuries

Symptoms of a Head or Brain Injury

A serious head or brain injury may impair your ability to function normally on a daily basis or to go to work. If a patient had any pre-existing learning or psychiatric difficulties, it become even harder to overcome these challenges going forward. Being able to identify the symptoms of a serious head injury immediately after an accident or assault is essential for getting a patient the help that he or she needs. You should speak with a San Francisco personal injury attorney as soon as possible, too.

In the immediate aftermath of an accident, watch for the following signs:

• Abnormal behavior
• Severe headaches or a stiff neck
• Heavy desire to sleep
• Multiple incidents of vomiting
• Challenges in moving an arm or leg
• Inability to move an arm or a leg at all
• Unequally sized pupils

While you can help to identify a brain injury as soon as possible by watching for the above red flags, other brain injuries may not be so obvious. The symptoms might not be present until days or weeks after the accident, which is why it’s so important for a patient to be monitored by medical professionals. The follow symptoms might indicate that a patient has sustained a serious brain injury even if the same symptoms were not present right after the accident causing the injury:

• Dizziness
• Blurry vision
• Headache
• Confusion and disorientation
• Challenges in remembering new information
• Loss of consciousness
• Nausea and vomiting

Recovery

Recovery from a brain injury can be very slow and happen over the course of a lifetime. Some patients may never fully recover from the traumatic injury sustained to the head. In order to receive a diagnosis of one of the most common types of serious head injury, known as “mild traumatic brain injury”, the individual must experience less than 30 minutes of amnesia. Although 80 percent of the patients who receive this diagnosis are expected to recover within six weeks, there are others who continue to suffer for much longer.

Trying to return to life as normal after a brain injury is not easy, because it involves a patient making a difficult transition from a period of recovery at home into the real world where an array of nerve-wracking situations are present. Effective rehabilitation becomes much less likely six months after the injury, so it’s important that a patient get intense rehabilitation help as soon as possible after an accident has occurred.

Why Hire a San Francisco Head and Brain Injury Lawyer?

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence of willful act of violence, you may have grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit. This may help you fight for compensation to put your life back together after an accident. As reported by the Head Injury Center, a severe brain injury survivor will have to go through five to ten years of intense rehab and medical services related to the injury. If you are feeling overwhelmed in the wake of a serious accident, you need guidance you can trust from an experienced personal injury attorney.

For more information, contact Eric Gruber today.