Traumatic Brain Injury

A trauma is defined as "any physical damage to the body caused by violence, accident or fracture etc." and quite obviously a traumatic brain injury would a trauma to the head that caused a brain injury. The causes of this type of injury are a blow to the head with the proverbial blunt instrument, a blow to the head in an accident such as an automobile accident, the introduction of a foreign body to the brain through the skull most likely a bullet shot from a gun and a blow to the head caused by a fall. The most common of these causes are falls and automobile accidents. Another cause of this trauma can be from diving into shallow water, which while rarer occurrences can leave the victims as a quadriplegic.

The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury vary according to what part of the brain is injured and how severe the injury is. Some of the indications of injury to the brain are dizziness, loss of consciousness, trouble with speech, trouble with mobility, severe headache which does not go away and which gets worse and also problems with simple thought process. Even without any overt symptoms, a person who has had head trauma of some kind should be seen by a physician as soon as possible. The medical tool used most often in diagnosis is the skull x-ray, which can determine if there is a skull fracture and in the case of a foreign body, it is sometimes better than the CT scan in determining the path of this body. The CT scan, though, is also used frequently in this diagnosis.

The person that has had some type of head injury especially a mild one may leave the hospital with instructions to rest and see the doctor in a few days. They may have no further problems. The person with a traumatic brain injury, on the other hand, may be unconscious for many days. They are also likely to have either a temporary or permanent disability with speech, eyesight, or mobility. If this disability becomes permanent, the person may be unable to work, be unable to attend to his activities of daily living and may need permanent help from family or a hired aide. This person has suffered a catastrophic injury and needs help from people with experience in these types of injuries to obtain financial compensation not only for their loss of pay forever, but for their care and medical needs for as long as they need this.

For experienced and empathetic help with an injury such as this please contact the Catastrophic Injury Resource Center at 1-800-669-7700 or visit their website at http://www.catastrophicinjury.com for more information.