According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.19 million persons die every year as a result of street traffic failures. If you drive, these numbers can make you feel scared for your own safety and your loved ones as well.
Most intense car accidents often lead to traumatic brain injuries. Understanding these injuries can not only help you if you have just experienced a car accident but also help you stay informed.
Here are some of the most common traumatic brain injuries resulting from car accidents.
- Skull Fracture
A skull fracture is one of the most common types of injuries faced by people facing rear-ended car accidents. The impact of the crash can be hard enough for the driver or the passengers to hit their head on any hard surface and sustain a serious injury.
The skull fracture is often accompanied by concussions and contusions. While these injuries may not show on the surface, you need urgent medical assistance to deal with them before they worsen.
If you see symptoms such as bleeding through your nose, disorientation, or nausea, you must cater to your medical needs before anything else.
- Concussion
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) resulting from car accidents often show in the form of concussions. This impact on your brain often leads to loss of consciousness, bleeding from the nose, and hazy vision. If you have any of these signs after a car accident, consider urgent medical help.
Even if you have milder symptoms like confusion and dizziness, seeking urgent medical attention can be life-saving. If brain injuries such as concussions are ignored for long enough, you may sustain long-term brain damage.
- Brain Contusion
A common reason why people seek the services of an experienced car accident lawyer after being involved in a rear-ended accident is because of the heavy medical bills they often have to deal with. These medical bills emerge from the need to treat different complex injuries such as brain contusions.
Brain contusion is a dangerous and one of the most common types of injuries sustained in car accidents. It often occurs before intense blows to the head or violent jolts. Such injuries can progress over time and turn into bigger problems, such as blood clots.
- Diffuse Axonal
Car accidents do not always result in the driver’s head hitting the dashboard or concussions because of intense jolts. Some car accidents can also lead to unique and dangerous injuries, such as diffuse Axonal.
Diffuse Axonal is a type of injury that occurs when there is a tear in the brain structures because of sudden head rotation. Facing such a traumatic injury can take a toll on the victim’s mental and physical well-being, leading to symptoms like collapse, memory loss, migraines, severe headaches, and seizures.
- Acquired Brain Injury
Secondary brain injury, also known as acquired brain injury, can occur when a person sustains a brain injury without any direct impact on their health. While one may not be able to see any damage on the surface, acquiring brain injury can be very dangerous.
These injuries can often lead to severe health-related challenges and can also often result in fatalities. If you or a loved one who has faced a car accident has a risk of ABI, they must always seek medical attention, even when everything looks fine on the surface.
- Coup-Contrecoup Injury
As the name suggests, this injury has two parts. A coup injury occurs when an external factor hits a certain body part. On the other hand, contrecoup injuries occur when the impacted side of your brain moves against the skull. In either case, these injuries are very dangerous.
If it remains unchecked and undiagnosed, Coup-Contrecoup Injuries can lead to widespread brain damage. This damage only worsens without professional help and leads to the circumstances worsening with every moment.
- Hemorrhage
An intracranial hemorrhage occurs when an injury leads to bleeding inside the skull wall. It is also one of the most common types of injuries sustained by people involved in car accidents. Three types of brain bleeding include epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, and intracerebral hemorrhage.
On the contrary, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage occurs in the space between the brain and the membranes covering it. The common symptoms include severe headaches, loss of consciousness, and even seizures. Untreated brain bleeds can cause permanent damage or death, as a lack of oxygen destroys brain cells and hinders communication with the body. Hence, seeking medical help is always recommended.
- Penetrating Injury
As the name suggests, a penetrating brain injury occurs when an object penetrates the skull and the brain tissues. Such injuries can be very dangerous and often lead to fatalities. It can be caused by debris in the car or glass or any external factor entering your car after the impact.
Such injuries can cause significant damage and lead to infection as the protected barriers of your brain are compromised.
Depending on the area of the injury, many people are unfortunate enough to lose some function or abilities as a result of such devastating events.
- Brain Edema
In simple words, brain edema refers to swelling in the brain due to fluid accumulation in the area. If you have been facing headaches, confusion, and reduced consciousness after your accident, it can be a sign of brain edema.
There are primarily two reasons for brain edema. It could either occur from inflammation after an injury or other injuries leading to brain damage. Our guess is as good as yours. Instead of listening to signs, it is better to ask a professional for help.
- Cerebral Contusion
Some car accidents are intense enough to damage your main organs, and cerebral contusion is one such example. A cerebral contusion is really a bruise on the mind structure the result of a direct impact.
It can either lead to a local injury or functional impairments such as affecting your motor skills, speech, memory, and more.
