The Subtle Threat of a Traumatic Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not easy to spot right away. It's not like a broken leg or shattered pelvis where the pain is immediate and noticeable. The effects of a TBI are rather subtle and may take days or even weeks to recognize. This is because it's exclusively an internal disturbance and reveals itself in common pains such as a headache, backache, or feeling fatigued, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

As an injury lawyer who works for a firm that represents people who've suffered a TBI, I recommend a simple policy: if you've suffered an injury where you were knocked in the head, visit your doctor ASAP.  A traumatic brain injury can have life-long ramifications including memory loss and decrease in cognitive function. In order to prevent such long-term side effects, treatment is necessary.

Here's a video illustrating the effects of TBI...

Even if the injury is minor, you may have suffered an MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury). Between 75 to 90 percent of the over 1.4 million traumatic brain injury deaths, hospitalizations, and ER visits originate from concussions and MTBI, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Think about that - a majority of brain injury deaths start off as a mild brain injury or concussion.  This is why an early diagnosis is essential in treating your TBI or MTBI properly. If you neglect the problem, you may be forced to deal with persistent headaches, vision or hearing problems, memory loss, sleep disturbances, or mood changes for the rest of your life.

Also, even if the hospital emergency room says your cat-scan is negative, do not interpret that to mean you do not have a brain injury. The cat-scane is a blunt instrument and may not show tearing of the brain tissues that occur at a microscopic level. If you've suffered a head trauma and symptoms persist like headaches, memory/thinking difficulties, or personality changes, see a neurologist or brain injury specialist.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and we have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injuries. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys have handled numerous head injury and brain trauma cases, and achieved the largest verdict in Virginia's history for a brain damaged client in 2000. Our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. And we are ready to talk to you by phone right now-we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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