Brain Injuries from a Car Accident in Los Angeles
It’s not at all uncommon for those who have been in a serious car accident to sustain brain injuries. These injuries can range from mild concussions to permanent impairments. What’s worse is that many of those who sustain brain injuries are not necessarily knocked unconscious. The shock of the accident may leave them unaware of how serious their injuries are.
Those who have been in a car accident, either as a passenger or a driver, or been hit by a car, as a pedestrian or cyclist, owe it to themselves to have a doctor check them for brain injuries immediately after the accident has taken place.
Here, we’ll talk about why you should see a doctor immediately, how brain injuries can affect you even well after the car accident, and what you can do to recover damages if you’ve been injured in a car accident.
You Should See a Doctor Immediately after a Car Accident
Even if you feel fine, you may not be. Concussions are traumatic brain injuries. While the symptoms of a concussion may not be permanent, in some cases they can be indicators of permanent brain damage.
Symptoms for concussions span a large number of bodily systems and tend to be quite varied. They include:
- A feeling of pressure in your head or a headache,
- A feeling of being in a fog or confusion,
- A feeling of being dazed coupled with a slow response time,
- Dizziness or seeing stars,
- Tinnitus or ringing in the ears,
- Nausea or vomiting.
It’s important to understand that symptoms for a concussion may be delayed. This fact coupled with the shock of having just been in a serious car accident will make it very difficult for you to judge whether or not you’re okay or need medical attention. For that reason, you should always seek medical attention after a head injury.
Delayed Symptoms of Concussions
While some symptoms may appear immediately after the head injury, others may take hours, or even days to manifest. These include:
- Difficulty concentrating,
- Problems with short-term memory,
- Sensitivity to light or noise,
- Difficulty falling asleep or sustaining restful sleep,
- Things not smelling or tasting right.
What is a Concussion?
A concussion is caused by your brain rattling in your skull. Car crashes that involve a sudden deceleration more often than not will produce this effect. In addition, any object striking your head with force can produce a concussion.
In worst case scenarios, concussions can involve bleeding in your brain. This needs to be corrected immediately and doctors will always check to make sure that your concussion did not result in a brain bleed. These can be fatal.
While the majority of concussions heal within a few weeks, some can cause lasting symptoms. The may include:
- Headaches that last for days, weeks, or months after the incident,
- Sporadic vertigo or loss of coordination that lasts for days, weeks, or months after the incident,
- Mood disturbances such as feeling depressed or anxious for no reason,
- Prolonged difficulty with concentration or memory.
Typically, these symptoms clear up eventually, but during that period, you may not be able to function at your job. In addition, you can sustain other injuries due to lack of equilibrium or loss of coordination.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that results from a violent shock to your brain. Concussions are treatable and generally recover on their own. Traumatic brain injury is an umbrella term that includes cases in which there is permanent damage or severe injuries.
In the most severe cases, brain death or a vegetative state may result from trauma to the brain. In other situations, an individual may live with lifelong impairments. This includes permanent brain damage that severely compromises their ability to work and may, in the most severe cases, compromise their ability to take care of themselves.
Individuals with severe traumatic brain injury may show intellectual deficits in memory, attention, concentration, learning, and problem solving. They may no longer be able to process speech or read. They may have difficulty maintaining restraint and be prone to violent outbursts.
What to Do If a Car Accident Causes a Traumatic Brain Injury
There are no mild cases of traumatic brain injury. Even those in which symptoms clear up can cause major discomfort for an injured party over an extended period of time. In the best scenarios, these symptoms eventually go away. In the worst scenarios, individuals are left with permanent impairments that require constant medical attention.
Regardless of how you feel after a head injury, you should seek medical attention and have a doctor ensure that you’re okay. Even in cases where you turn out to be perfectly fine, an insurance company may read your failure to seek immediate medical attention as a reason to devalue your claim. Then in a couple days when you do start having concussion symptoms, you have to justify why you did not seek medical attention immediately to the insurance company.
Damages That You Can Collect in Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuits
In a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent party, you are entitled to collect for any and all damages you sustain as a result of the at-fault party’s negligence. This includes missed time from work, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and more.
In order to ensure that the full extent of your damages is honored by the insurance company, you need an attorney who is renowned in the Bay Area for their excellence in court cases. Insurance companies don’t willingly hand over six-figure settlements to those making a claim against a policy. They force you into the position of proving every injury you claim.
In the majority of situations, however, they are not enthusiastic about sending the case before a jury either. That’s an added expense. By preparing your case to be trial ready, Dolan Law Firm can leverage an unwilling insurance company into a hefty settlement. If the insurance company wants to roll the dice before a jury, our attorneys are more than happy oblige.
Contact a Skilled Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyers
Chris Dolan of the Dolan Law Firm has been recognized as among the most talented Los Angeles brain injury lawyers. If you’ve sustained serious injuries as a result of another’s negligence, then you deserve to be compensated in full. Give us a call at (415) 610-7446 or contact us online for a free case evaluation.
