Traumatic brain injuries usually result from blows to the head — for instance, when people hit their heads in car accidents. Serious injury to the brain occurs because the force is enough to cause the brain to shake inside of a person’s skull. Unfortunately, these types of injuries can drastically affect a person’s quality of life in New Mexico and other states.
A mild brain injury may cause a person to be confused or dazed and lose consciousness briefly. For instance, the person might black out for several seconds. Other symptoms include loss of balance, dizziness, drowsiness, and headache.
People with severe brain injuries might also lose consciousness, but their loss of consciousness may last several hours, or they may be unable to wake up. They may also experience headaches that get worse or become persistent. Additional symptoms include numbness and tingling in the toes or fingers, a lack of coordination, agitation, confusion, slurred speech, vomiting, and seizures. Treatments for brain injuries come in various forms, ranging from prescription medication to drug-induced comas and even surgery depending on the situation.
Unfortunately, there is still no cure for serious injury to the brain. Those in New Mexico who have suffered this type of injury can receive help on the road to recovery through speech, occupational and physical therapists as well as psychiatrists and nurses who specialize in providing care to traumatic brain injury patients. If a person’s brain injury was caused by an accident for which someone else was at fault due to negligence, this other party may be held financially responsible for the injury. The victim may choose to sue, seeking damages that — if awarded — may help to cover ongoing brain injury-related medical care costs.
Source: cnn.com, “What is a traumatic brain injury?“, Debra Goldschmidt, Sept. 23, 2016
