How Can I Tell if a Head Injury from a Car Accident Is Mild or Severe?

May 21, 2024 | Sagi Shaked | Car Accidents

Head injuries are one of the trickiest types of injuries you can suffer in a car accident. A head injury could heal in just a few days or hinder you with a disability for the rest of your life. If you suffer a head injury, you need to determine the severity as quickly as possible to protect your future.

Head Injury from Car Accident Evaluation

If you suffered a head injury in a car accident, the biggest mistake you can make is to try to self-evaluate it. Unless you have medical training, you have no good way to determine whether the headache you are feeling should be treated with aspirin or requires surgery. Visit a doctor immediately to get your injury evaluated by a professional.

Additionally, you may want to consider consulting with a doctor even if you don’t think you suffered a head injury in a car accident. Certain types of head injuries can be quite subtle. You may not even realize you suffered one, especially if you suffered other injuries that kept you from realizing you sustained a head injury.

Types of Brain Injuries from Car Accidents

The main danger of a head injury has nothing to do with your skull. It is one of the strongest bones in your body and is very unlikely to get seriously harmed, even if something cracks it. The injuries that can result in a lifetime of disability are brain injuries. The following are some of the more common types of brain injuries from car crashes.

Concussions

While these types of head injuries are most closely associated with contact sports like football, concussions are also a possible consequence of a car accident. A concussion occurs any time your brain makes contact with the inside of your skull. This can happen any time your head slams into a hard object, like the dashboard or side window.

Concussions can also result from whiplash, which is a tricky type of injury because it often doesn’t exhibit symptoms for days or even weeks after it occurs. With this type of injury, you never strike anything. Your head and neck just whip forward and backward quickly. This can cause your brain to hit the front and back of your skull.

Whiplash most often occurs in rear-end crashes, and you will likely feel neck and back pain a few days to a week after the accident. This is a sign that you should speak with a brain specialist to check if you also suffered a brain injury.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

While concussions can cause lifelong complications themselves after you suffer multiple, a traumatic brain injury is a more immediate danger and a long-term threat. Quite quickly, a traumatic brain injury can change your speech patterns, emotional state, and ability to form memories.

People with traumatic brain injuries from car accidents may also suffer seizures or vertigo. In the worst-case scenario, they could enter a coma or have intracranial bleeding. That bleeding can result in a stroke if left untreated. If you experience any of these types of symptoms after suffering a head injury, speak to a brain trauma expert immediately.

Always Assume a Head Injury Is Severe

Because any head injury poses the threat of a brain injury, you should treat it as severe until a doctor tells you otherwise. A mild head injury can have long-term consequences if not treated, and that isn’t a risk worth taking.

Contact Our Car Accident Law Firm in Miami, FL

If you’ve been injured in an accident in Miami, FL and need legal help, contact our Miami car accident lawyers at Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation.

Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers
20900 NE 30th Ave Suite 715
Aventura, FL 33180
(305) 937-0191