Dealing With A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) After An accident

Injury lawyers know that car accidents are unpleasant to think about or deal with, however, they are a ‘fact of life’. Sometimes, you can sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) after an accident. This is also unpleasant to deal with and think about, but it happens. Your personal injury lawyer in Waterloo will tell you about your rights, both as a victim and as a patient if you sustain a TBI after a motor vehicle accident.

Definition of TBI and how it’s diagnosed

Personal injury lawyers know that TBIs occur whenever your head is subjected to an extreme external force and you sustain brain injuries. Most TBIs are caused by car accidents. However, other common causes are:

● Sports injuries
● Fighting
● Injuries from war
● Falls and slips

Only a doctor can determine if you have a TBI and how severe it is. A doctor must assess many bodily functions including verbal abilities, motor responses, eye responses and more. You’ll probably have a CT scan done on your brain to check for possible swelling and/or bleeding.

How to care for a TBI

You have various treatment options if you are ever diagnosed with a TBI, no matter how small! You’ll probably have to undergo substantial speech therapy to learn how to talk properly. You’ll also likely need to go through substantial physical therapy to learn how to regain control of vital motor functions. If your TBI is very severe, you may even need brain surgery to restore certain vital functions.

No matter how much rehabilitative treatment you undergo and no matter how extensive it is, you’ll likely experience some inability to enjoy the activities that you used to because of your TBI. you may have to quit school because of your inability to focus or absorb new information. You may even develop new long-term disabilities that may make you unable to ever work again.

In extreme cases, you may need to hire help to help you with daily tasks like cooking and going to the grocery store. These were probably tasks, that you had no trouble doing before you sustained your TBI.

Your personal injury lawyer may refer you to a mental health counselor or a psychiatrist because you may develop problems with depression or mental illnesses because of your TBI. A psychiatrist can prescribe you certain anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medicines that can help your mental illnesses and/or depression from worsening. A counselor can ‘talk you through your problems’ and help you find viable and healthy solutions to them. TBIs are serious. You don’t want to ‘go it alone’ if you have ever had one. This is one of the many reasons why you need to hire a good personal injury lawyer.