3 Most Common Causes Of Traumatic Brain Injury
Mark A. Steinberg
Brain Injury
The brain is the most crucial organ in the human body. It is essentially the “central processing system” for humans, regulating autonomic functions like the beating of the heart or digesting food once it enters the stomach. But it is also responsible for voluntary actions, like walking, running, or recalling essential facts.Because of its importance, it’s no surprise that if the brain sustains an injury, it can be severe. Depending on the location and severity of the injury, anything from the ability to move or even remember your own identity can be severely diminished. Such injuries are called traumatic brain injuries, and these are the three most common ways to sustain one.
Falls
These can happen anywhere, even just getting out of bed. The height of a fall is not the sole determining factor in how damaging they can be. What part of the body is impacted by a fall is of far greater consequence. The skull protects the brain, but the skull is not indestructible, and can only reduce damage, not prevent it.
Falls can happen in expected, high-risk situations, such as working in a construction zone, or they can occur in the most unexpected of places, such as slipping on a puddle of grease in an auto repair garage. As long as the head is the point of impact, there is a risk of TBI.
Sporting Injuries
Americans love to both watch sports and participate. Still, while anything can happen on a playfield, that doesn’t just limit itself to wins and losses. Plenty of injuries can occur as well. Falling, for example, is only one possibility for TBI in sports; there are plenty of others. Baseball is a sport where a direct impact to the head by a baseball thrown or batted at high speed can potentially cause TBI.
Football is another sport where TBI is a risk. Concussions are a regular occurrence on American football fields due to the amount of force involved in tackling other players. Even with a helmet, players are still at risk.
Vehicular Accidents
This is one of the most common causes of TBI, and often the culprit in the most severe cases. The speed cars travel at means that an impact is usually several orders of magnitude worse than a fall or a tackle. And even if you wear seatbelts, this is not necessarily sufficient protection for the head.
The skull can’t always prevent TBI because it is sometimes the source of the TBI. “Whiplash” is a common term for the sudden forward motion and then snapping back the neck in a vehicle impact. Under certain conditions, however, the brain can impact the skull, taking direct physical damage from that collision.
Get Help
Traumatic brain injuries have a vast, often unpredictable spectrum of possible symptoms. Neural damage can impact reflexes and the ability to move. Other types of TBI may result in uncontrollable mood swings, jumping from depression to rage without apparent provocation.
If you’re the victim of TBI, talk to a traumatic brain injury lawyer to find out how you can get compensation for what will be a lifelong condition.