Bismarck Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys

Helping Victims of Traumatic Brain Injuries Get Compensation in Bismarck, North Dakota

One of the most serious injuries that a person can have happen to them is a Traumatic Brain Injury (or TBI for short.) These are serious, often debilitating, sometimes deadly injuries resulting from heavy trauma to the head. They are the most commonly the result of slip and fall accidents or vehicle accidents, and are not always identifiable at first. Even a minor brain injury should be taken as seriously as obvious head trauma.

TBIs can have serious effects on a person’s physical and mental abilities. At Sand Law, we take traumatic brain injuries seriously. If your injury, or the injury to a loved one, was caused by the negligence of another party, you are entitled to file a claim against them to seek damages for the injury. These can go towards covering medical costs relating to the injury, as well as other damages that can result such as lost wages.

Diagnosis of a TBI after an Accident

Traumatic brain injuries can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, depending on which sections of the brain were affected by the impact. The brain is a complex organ responsible for a myriad of functions, and as such the symptoms of a brain injury can range from banal to serious. The most common symptoms include the following:

• Physical symptoms
  • Dizziness
  • Persistent headaches
  • Blurred or lost vision
• Cognitive symptoms
  • Short-term memory problems
  • Amnesia
  • Disorientation
  • Problems concentrating
• Emotional Symptoms
  • Irritability
  • Depressive episodes
  • Agitation
  • Changes in appetite

Myths about Traumatic Brain Injuries

Myth #1: You must strike your head or lose consciousness.

Traumatic Brain Injuries do not always result from a direct blow to the head. The human brain is not firmly seated in the skull, and has a soft consistency. Using a car accident as an example, even if you do not directly strike your head on anything in the vehicle, the forces whipping your body back and forth can cause your brain to bounce off the inside of your skull. This is known as a coup-contrecoup injury.

Myth #2: A negative MRI illustrates no brain injury.

As fine-tuned an imaging tool as an MRI is, they can often miss microscopic lesions in the brain, or other damage to individual neurons. It is fairly common for a patient to have a negative MRI yet clearly present some of the signs of TBIs as listed above.

Myth #3: You can recover quickly

This is a myth that can emerge during court proceedings. Often, defense lawyers will try to minimize the extent of a brain injury and insist the claimant will quickly recover. But those afflicted with TBIs are still symptomatic after a year, with many experiencing persistent or worsening symptoms.

Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries

Concussions

Both closed and open head injuries can result in concussions, and as such they are the most common type of brain trauma. They can be caused by direct head impacts or whiplash-type movements. The aftereffects of a concussion are known as post-concussion syndrome, a disorder that manifests with dizziness, headaches, sleeping difficulties, depression, and memory loss. 

Concussions should never be ignored and warrant immediate medical attention, especially because of the risk of second-impact syndrome (SIS). SIS occurs if someone suffers another concussion before the symptoms of the first are resolved, and can prove fatal.

Contusion

Contusions are the result of direct impacts to the head that causes severe bruising to the brain tissue itself, or causes bleeding inside the skull. Often, these injuries will require surgery to reduce swelling inside the skull, as such swelling can result in permanent brain damage or death.

Diffuse Axonal Injury

Often the result of a vigorous shaking or twisting of the head, diffuse axonal injuries occur when the brain lags behind the movement of the skull, causing tears in the delicate tissue. Similar to whiplash, the rapid back and forth movement of the brain disrupts nerves, and often causes a loss of consciousness at the time of trauma.

Penetration

Perhaps the most self-explanatory injury on this list, penetration injuries are anything that forces matter from the skull into the brain. Anything that causes a foreign object to penetrate the skull and brain falls under this category, and most often these injuries are fatal.

Hematoma

A mass of clotted blood or pronounced swelling in the area between the inside of the skull and the brain itself.

Getting Legal Help for Your Traumatic Brain Injury

TBIs can be a harrowing experience for those they affect, and can have lasting results that impact the rest of their lives. This can be compounded if the injury was due to the negligence of another party and could have been prevented. It can change career opportunities and the afflicted’s entire personality, and lead to isolation, depression, and expensive medical bills as they try to navigate their new circumstances. 

When going through this type of injury, personal injury attorneys are one of the best resources to help you through this trying time. They can take negligent parties to court and argue on your behalf for compensation to alleviate the damages associated with treating and living with these injuries. The experienced team at Sand Law is ready to help. Call us today at (701) 609-1510 , or contact us online by filling out our contact form.