What Are the Different Types of Brain Injuries?
Car crash-related brain injuries are very serious and very hard to diagnose. The saga of Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley is a good example.
In November 1972, Oakley was in a motorcycle crash in Georgia. He refused medical treatment at the scene and got a ride home with a friend. Less than two days later, a major brain hemorrhage killed him. Ironically, Oakly died almost a year to the day after bandmate Duane Allman was killed in a similar motorcycle crash a few blocks away from the scene of Oakley’s crash.
The takeaway is clear. After a car crash, only a doctor can determine what kind of brain injury you have, if any. Similarly, after a car crash, only a Florida personal injury lawyer can determine how much compensation you may be entitled to. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. A well-prepared lawyer typically settles injury cases out of court, and on victim-friendly terms.
Severe TBIs
Severe Traumatic Brain injuries are very common in high-speed car wrecks, a category which basically includes anything other than a parking lot, residential street, or back-alley fender bender. These wrecks combine all three major causes of TBIs, which are:
- Motion: Contrary to popular myth, the brain doesn’t fit inside the skull like a hand in a glove. The brain is roughly the size of an oversized coffee mug. So, during a crash, the brain slams violently and repeatedly against the skull, causing bleeding and swelling. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, these victims often tell their doctors they “feel fine.” So instead of prepping them for necessary brain surgery, these doctors sign release papers.
- Trauma: Seat belts and airbags absorb much of the force in a high-speed wreck but by no means all of it. Hitting the steering wheel after the airbag deploys is like attaching a pillow to your head and running headlong into a wall at 60mph. The airbag reduces but certainly does not eliminate brain damage.
- Noise: Many vehicle collision witnesses say these wrecks sound like explosions. Such sudden, loud noises create shock waves that disrupt brain functions. That’s one of the main reasons so many Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans came home with brain injuries. It’s also one of the reasons that a pedestrian or other bystander could be seriously injured in a wreck, even though s/he wasn’t in the car.
Severe TBIs kill tens of thousands of Americans every year. These injuries are degenerative. Initial symptoms soon give way to more advanced symptoms. If that happens most people do not survive.
Moderate TBIs
A Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury is basically a concussion. By themselves, these injuries are serious but normally not life-threatening.
However, the cumulative effect of concussions causes CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). This brain injury is normally fatal.
If a crash-related moderate TBI is the straw that broke the camel’s back, a Florida personal injury lawyer can usually obtain full compensation. Insurance companies cannot use a victim’s vulnerable condition, like a history of concussions, as an excuse to reduce or deny compensation.
PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a specific kind of physical brain injury. Extreme stress changes the brain’s chemical composition. The amygdala, which controls emotional responses, swells, causing the hippocampus (logical responses) to shrink. This chemical imbalance causes symptoms like anger, hypervigilance, depression, and nightmares.
This brain injury is very hard to treat. Only a few PTSD drugs are on the market, and many people cannot tolerate their extreme side effects. Experimental treatments with drugs like marijuana and MDMA (molly or ecstasy) may help victims in the future, but safe, approved treatments are still years away.
Connect With a Sarasota County Personal Injury Attorney
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Florida, contact Carman, Bevington & Finegan, P.A. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.