There’s More Than One TBI
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an extremely complex medical condition. There may be both short term medical consequences, long term ones that may not manifest for quite some time, and even lifelong, permanent effects that a victim may simply have to live with. The reason for this is because the brain controls almost every aspect of a person’s health, from the beating of the heart to the ability to feel happy, sad, or even remember a loved one’s face. As a result, because different parts of the brain control different aspects of biology, memory and even information processing, TBI effects can vary. The location of a TBI can have an impact on side-effects, but the type of TBI also plays a role. TBI can be sustained in a few different ways, but there are three types of TBI most commonly experienced by victims and medical professionals that must treat these victims.
Crush Injuries
As the name implies, this is when the brain has constant pressure applied from the outside, such as a car accident that results in a passenger’s head being pushed against a car door and pinned there, for example. Crush injuries usually affect the skull and the neck as well as the brain, so injuries of this nature can be quite widespread compared to other forms of TBI.
Open Wound Injuries
From a visibility perspective, this is probably the most upsetting. An open wound injury is one where the impact is so severe that there may actually be some penetration through the skull, resulting in a visible cut, wound, fracture or other injury. With an open wound, some portion of the skull has actually been damaged enough that outside matter is able to penetrate and make contact with the brain. Depending on the size of the injury this can have very specific, localized consequences or be much broader in scope.
Closed Head
This is probably the most common form of TBI, and can be a little more difficult to properly diagnose, since there’s less to see from an examination just using the eyes alone. This type of TBI occurs when there is a sudden movement—or cessation of movement—that causes the brain to move, but does not necessarily injure the skull. The brain making contact with the skull after a collision, or even twisting within the skull is the most common occurrence of this.
In any accident that isn’t something as obvious as an open wound, if there’s any impact sustained by the head, it’s always important to get such injuries examined by a medical professional. If TBI is diagnosed, that almost certainly means there will be immediate medical ramifications, but there may also be longer term effects as well. Speak to an accident lawyer experienced in TBI, to make sure that any financial compensation you require for either medical treatment, or subsequent lifelong adjustments to live with this new condition are properly addressed. Traumatic brain injury can have a huge impact on a person’s ability to not just work and earn a living income, but live a normal a life.