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The Most Common Types of Brain Injuries from Car Accidents

On Behalf of | Feb 1, 2019 | Brain Injury Claims

Getting in an accident is an inconvenient headache full of complications. Sometimes it actually makes your head ache, too. Brain injuries from car accidents are no joke and require proper attention.

Over 18% of traumatic brain injuries result in hospitalization, so if your head hurts after an accident or if you have other symptoms, you may have more than surface wounds.

Consider possible brain injuries if you’re falling more than usual, off balance, or if you lost consciousness during the accident. Seizures, numbness, and even cuts and bruises on your head can also mean there’s something more serious at stake.

Read on to discover the most common types of brain injuries from car accidents.

1. From a Penetrating Object

When a car crashes, parts come loose, and often they injure the passengers. If a piece of metal or glass breaks free and comes into contact with your skin, it causes extensive damage.

Sometimes the object gets stuck or glances off the inside of the skull, causing further damage. Other times it’s a through-and-through injury, where it passes out the other side. The foreign material ruptures and stretches brain tissue in either scenario.

These types of injuries compromise brain function and make it difficult for accident victims to get back to a normal life.

2. From Shaking

The jolt from an accident can cause problems later than the first few days after the accident. A problem could form because of shaking and trauma.

A Chiari malformation happens when the cerebellar tonsils push through an opening in the base of the skull. It puts pressure on the spinal cord, and fluid builds up, impairing major physical functions. Trauma can cause a person to develop this otherwise genetic condition.

Accident victims who get shaken during the collision often experience concussions. Concussions happen when a sudden movement or change in direction of movement—including a halt—injures the brain.

Any time a strong rotation of the head causes a brain injury, it’s called a diffuse axonal injury. This is like a concussion but much worse. It causes the brain structures to tear.

It also causes nerve tissue to tear, and your brain releases higher amounts of the usual chemicals. The extra chemicals damage your brain even more—on top of the tearing that already happened.

3. From Impact

Brain injuries happen because of the impact during a car accident, too.

Impacts cause bruising not only on the outside of your head, but also on the inside. The medical term for bruise is contusion. Of course, contusions on the brain are much worse than bruises on the arms and legs. They even sometimes need surgical removal.

Coup-contrecoup brain contusions are ones in which an injury happens on both sides of the brain (the side that got hit and the other side). An impact has to be very hard to create this type of injury.

Collisions and Your Rights

What you think of as a minor fender-bender can cause serious injury. These most common brain injuries from car accidents aren’t the only ones you may have experienced.

Get checked out to make sure concussions, diffuse axonal, or coup-contrecoup brain injuries haven’t happened to you.

If you’ve had an injury in an accident, you deserve compensation for your loss. Contact Kastl Law for a free consultation today.