Redding Brain Injury Lawyer

Anyone with experience dealing with traumatic brain injuries understands that this can completely change a patient’s life and the lives of those around them. While such a serious injury can remove someone’s ability to work and provide for their family, it can also make it impossible for the patient and their loved ones to engage in activities that used to bring them joy. Brain injuries range in their scope of impact from short-term changes to chronic, life-changing events. In some cases, the patient may never recover to the baseline that they used to know. Furthermore, suffering a brain injury could land the patient in the ICU or the operating room where financial expenses can quickly mount. This can place even the most comfortable families under a tremendous amount of stress, particularly if complications start to arise between insurance companies and the patient’s family. Patients and their loved ones should ensure that they understand some basic information about traumatic brain injuries before moving forward.

In the medical literature, many different terms are used to describe brain injuries. Professionals can exchange terms such as “head injury,” “traumatic brain injury,” and “brain injury” interchangeably. Patients should know that any term used to describe forceful contact to the face or head area has the potential to cause a brain injury.

For example, a patient may suffer powerful, direct, blunt-force trauma to the head from anything ranging from a fist to a baseball bat. This would be described as a closed head injury because the injury did not break through the bony skull that protects the brain; however, the force could still be enough to cause the brain to strike the skull, leading to a brain injury.

On the other hand, some patients may receive a gunshot or a knife wound to the skull, breaking the surface. This would be described as a penetrating injury and can do damage to the brain by direct contact.

There are many different ways that someone might suffer a head or brain injury. Examples of common accidents that cause traumatic brain injuries include:

• Vehicular Accidents: If someone strikes their head on the dashboard, steering wheel, or window, this can lead to a closed head injury. It is possible that someone could be thrown from the vehicle if the person was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, leading to a life-threatening head injury.
• Sports Injuries: Concussion in a wide variety of sports, particularly football, have been in the spotlight recently. Some players may not even notice that they suffered a head injury; however, any collision at high-speed has the potential to cause brain damage.
• Assault: A physical assault can cause both penetrating and closed-head injuries as a result. Even babies can suffer a brain injury from something called shaken-baby syndrome. If a baby is shaken, the brain rattles back and forth inside the skull cavity, causing damage.
• Slip and Fall Injuries: While some people may brush off slip and fall injuries as common accidents, they have the potential to cause brain damage if someone doesn’t break their fall. If the head strikes the floor or pavement, this can cause brain injury.

This list is far from complete but it does represent some of the common ways that someone might suffer a brain injury.

It is important for patients and their families to know that some brain injuries may manifest themselves immediately while others may take several hours to become apparent. After the initial blow to the head, it is possible that someone may think that they’re fine; however, over the next few hours, someone may start to experience subtle changes. Their emotional state could start to change. They may start to complain about small issues. They may not see or hear things that they would otherwise catch. It is vital for the patient and those around them to watch for these changes and seek medical attention at the first sign of trouble.

Brain injuries can range in severity and patients should understand that a brain injury may lead to some, all, or none of the symptoms described below. Examples of potential symptoms include:

• Emotional changes and mood swings
• Cluster headaches, migraines, or tension headaches
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Lack of orientation to self, place, time, or purpose
• Nausea and vomiting
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)

Patients who have suffered a more serious and immediately apparent brain injury could suffer:

• Loss of consciousness
• Lack of ability to focus on simple tasks
• Loss of old memories and an inability to form new ones
• Lack of ability to coordinate simple muscle movements
• Seizures
• Trouble standing, walking, or running
• Hearing loss
• Vision loss with abnormal eye movements (nystagmus)
• Paralysis
• Coma
• Death

Because the symptoms of brain injuries can vary markedly from case to case, everyone should take the time to seek expert medical attention if they suffer a blow to the head. A delay in medical care could adversely affect the final outcome and leave the patient with potentially avoidable, yet now lifelong, brain damage.

I’m Ed Smith, a Redding Brain Injury Lawyer. Traumatic brain injuries can bring a tremendous amount of stress to the lives of patients, their friends, and their families. If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident, please call my office at (530) 392-9400 for friendly, free advice.

I am a part of the California Chapter of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. This group of trial lawyers and injury attorneys has been rated among the best in the country. Every member has won verdicts or settled cases worth over $1 Million Dollars.

Some of my verdicts and settlements can be viewed here.

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Image Attributions:

• Image 1:  Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator - Wikimedia Commons
• Image 2: Redding Brain Injury Attorney – Edward A. Smith

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