When it comes to brain injury, there is very little room between mild and heavy trauma. The brain is such an important organ that even the slightest problem can have sever repercussions.
It is imperative for all of us to improve our understanding as best we can and properly assess both how brain injury occurs and what we can do to get it treated. This article is here to explore common causes and types of injury and what you can do legally to pursue proper compensation.
Traumatic Brain injury
TBI (traumatic brain injury) occurs when an external force either strikes the head or penetrates the skull and damages the brain matter directly.
Here are some common examples to consider.
* Concussion. Perhaps the most well known TBI. Concussions most often occur when the skull experiences a dramatic strike or impact. The brain makes contact with the inside of the skull, causing damage, bleeding, or worse. Common symptoms of concussion include dizziness, lose of consciousness, and memory trouble. Concussions can range from mild to severe.
* Penetration. Quite simply penetration is when a foreign object enters through the skull and deals damage directly to the brain. Penetration injuries can occur from bullets, knives, blunt objects, or flying debris.
* Diffuse Axonal. Occurs through rotation or shaking of the head. These injuries are often found in car accidents, whiplash events, or ‘shaken baby’ occurrences. These injuries often entail the tearing and damage of nerve endings rather than brain tissue itself.
* Contusion. Bruising and resulting bleeding of brain tissue from any variety of impact with the head. Sometimes goes hand in hand with concussions. Sometimes contusions require surgery to be removed.
* Medical Error. As opposed to injuries that occur in daily life, these are problems that arise from medical incompetence, misdiagnosis, or maltreatment. Brain injury via medical malpractice can occur during times of treatment specifically for brain injury, or during some other kind of treatment as an accidental side effect.
Acquired Brain Injury
ABI (acquired brain injury) involves disorders of the brain that are less induced by external events. Some examples include stroke, degenerative disease, anoxia, hypoxia, and tumors.
It is important, however, to decide if even these events were spurred on by external causes that could have been prevented. If you were exposed to toxins on the job, and have been diagnosed with brain damage as a result, you certainly have the right to pursue compensation. This is mostly a matter of assessing your environment and deciding if the situation could have been avoided, and if avoidance was inside the power of your workplace (or wherever else the injury occurred).
Pursuing Legal Compensation
Every individuals situation is unique, so you need to understand your circumstances as best as possible when trying to decide if monetary compensation is owed to you.
Be certain to have an open line of communication with your doctor and seek professional treatment as soon as you believe significant injury has occurred. Do you best to document all your expenditures, dates, and treatments received.
Finally, seek out a specialist as your attorney. In matters as complex as this, a general attorney simply won’t know all the ins and outs of not just the medical community, but the neural medical community as well.
