Because your symptoms may be delayed, only a medical professional can actually determine whether head trauma after a car accident is mild or severe.
If you experience a blow to the head, loss of consciousness, confusion, or other neurological symptoms, you should seek prompt medical evaluation. Getting medical care right away can help protect your health, document your injuries, and support a future injury claim if the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence.
What Counts as a Head Injury After a Car Accident?
The term “head injury” covers a wide range of different conditions, ranging from mild concussions to life-altering traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Examples of common head injuries after crashes include:
- Contusions or bruising of the brain
- Skull fractures
- Mild, moderate, or severe
TBIs These injuries often occur in car accidents when your head touches the steering wheel, dashboard, windows, or any other object inside of the vehicle. The force of the airbag’s expansion can also cause injury. And even if there is no direct impact to the head, the force of the crash can cause the brain to move inside the skull, causing a TBI or other injury.
Why Head Injuries After Car Accidents Can Be Difficult to Identify
While you may assume you’d know immediately if you suffer a serious brain injury in a car accident, this is not always true. Delayed onset injuries are common after a crash because adrenaline and shock may mask pain and other symptoms. You could feel fairly normal, but start experiencing problems as the shock wears off.
Some TBIs also develop over time as swelling or brain bleeding grows worse. This can lead to delayed symptoms that you may not have experienced immediately but that could be a sign of a serious injury.
Head injuries also don’t always have visible outward signs. You could be seriously hurt, but have no cuts or visible signs of internal damage to the brain.
Common Signs of a Mild Head Injury After a Car Accident
Mild traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, can cause a variety of symptoms, including:
- Headaches
- Temporary confusion or a feeling of being foggy
- Brief loss of consciousness
- Dizziness
- Nausea or vomiting
- Memory gaps related to the accident
- Fatigue or sleep disturbances
- Sensitivity to light
These symptoms do not always appear immediately, so whenever you suffer a blow to the head, you should get it evaluated by a medical professional.
Signs a Head Injury May Be Severe
There are also some symptoms that could be clear signs of a more severe injury. Some examples include:
- Loss of consciousness
- Repeated vomiting
- Slurred speech
- Seizures or convulsions
- Severe headache
- Unequal pupils
- Weakness or numbness
- Confusion that grows worse
If you experience these symptoms, you need to get emergency care because your brain injury could be life-threatening.
How Doctors Grade Head Injury Severity (The Glasgow Coma Scale)
Doctors have a variety of techniques to assess the severity of head injuries, including the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The GCS measures your level of consciousness by evaluating eye, verbal, and motor responses. The lower your score, the more serious your injuries.
You may also undergo a variety of different diagnostic tests to assess the damage to your brain, including:
- Neurological exams
- CT scans
- MRI imaging
- Cognitive evaluations
The goal is to determine how badly your brain was affected by the force or impact. It is important that you have these tests done and that the results are documented so you can make a stronger car accident claim.
Medical records can show that the injury occurred immediately after the car crash, helping you prove that the crash caused the damage. Records can also show the extent and severity of your losses, so you can prove that you experienced pain and suffering, mental health impacts, and challenges working. This evidence can help support the full value of your claim, whether the case resolves through settlement or trial.
What to Do After Suffering a Head Injury in a Car Accident
After you suffer a head injury, you should:
- Get prompt medical attention to make sure the injury is documented
- Report the crash to the police
- Obtain details from the accident scene, including witness contact information and pictures
- Avoid speaking to an insurance company, especially if you are experiencing any confusion
- Document your injuries and the pain that you endure
- Keep copies of medical bills to show your losses and damages
- Comply with the doctor’s treatment recommendations
- Contact an experienced attorney so you can begin building a case and ensure you file a claim within the statute of limitations for injury claims in North Carolina
How Head Injury Severity Affects Your Car Accident Claim in North Carolina
TBIs can have devastating financial and personal consequences. Even if you suffer a relatively mild concussion, this can still lead to time off work and expensive medical monitoring in a hospital. If you suffer a severe TBI, on the other hand, you may experience permanent lifelong impairments, be unable to work at all, and need expensive long-term care.
You should be entitled to full and fair compensation for all losses, including:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Long-term care costs
- Loss of quality of life
Because brain injuries can sometimes be hard to prove and their long-term effects aren’t always apparent right away, you will need to make sure you have all of the evidence possible to help you build a strong claim. Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers will conduct an investigation, obtain expert opinions, and carefully prepare your case so you can prove how badly you were hurt and get fairly compensated.
Speak to a Riddle & Riddle Car Accident Lawyer Today
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers has the experience you need, whether you suffered a mild or a severe head injury. Riddle & Riddle is led by father-daughter attorney partners, and our firm has served North Carolina communities for more than 40 years.
Once you learn about us, you’ll understand why we’re the firm to turn to after a crash. Give us a call today at 800-525-7111 or contact us online to learn more about how we can help you.
