Someone can suffer from a life-altering brain injury in a wide variety of ways, from motor vehicle accidents and workplace accidents to intentional acts of violence. People who experience blunt-force trauma to the head may experience severe mental and physical health complications and may require extensive medical treatment in order to heal from their injuries. In some unfortunate cases, people who suffer from a traumatic brain injury are never able to fully recover, and they could be left in a coma or vegetative state for the rest of their life.
If you or a family member has suffered from blunt force head trauma as a result of negligence, you may be able to file a personal injury claim for your damages. Not sure where to start? Let the Louisiana head and brain injury lawyers at Gordon & Gordon Law Firm handle it. With over 15 years of experience handling personal injury cases, we can help you file a claim for your brain injury and receive fair compensation for your losses. Call us at (318) 716-HELP to schedule a free consultation regarding your case.
What is Blunt Force Head Trauma?
Blunt force head trauma is a type of physical injury that occurs when the head is impacted by a hard surface or blunt object and the incident does not result in penetration of the head or skull. For example, if someone is hit in the head with a baseball bat, they may suffer from a blunt-force head injury. Severe head trauma like this can lead to what is known as a traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries are classified as mild, moderate, and severe, but even a mild traumatic brain injury could require medical treatment.
Common Causes of Blunt Force Trauma
Blunt-force head trauma can be caused by a variety of things, including accidents, intentional acts of violence, and participation in occupational and recreational activities. Some of these causes include:
- Motor vehicle accidents;
- Slip and fall accidents;
- Sports accidents;
- Acts of violence; and
- Explosive blasts.
Some blunt force trauma injuries are at least partially preventable. For example, someone riding in a car could wear a seat belt and prevent themselves from hitting their head on the dashboard in the event of a car accident.
Other times, severe head trauma can be hard or even impossible to avoid, like in the case of intentional acts of violence. Victims of domestic violence, particularly child abuse, may be unable to prevent or lessen their injuries and can suffer from severe health complications as a result. Active duty military personnel may be unable to avoid nearby explosions or falling debris and can suffer from severe brain injuries, even when wearing a helmet.
Examples of Head Injuries
Blunt force head trauma can cause different head injuries, depending on the circumstances surrounding the injury. Blunt force trauma can cause a person to suffer from brain injuries such as:
- Mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury;
- Coup, contrecoup, or coup-contrecoup brain injury;
- Diffuse axonal injury;
- Intracranial hematoma (blood clot); and/or
- Scull fracture.
If you or a loved one has suffered from any kind of brain injury as a result of negligence or intentional acts of harm, you may be able to receive compensation for damages in a personal injury claim. The expert lawyers at Gordon & Gordon Law Firm can help you file a claim for damages like medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and disability from long-term complications. Call us at (318) 716-HELP and schedule a free consultation with a member of our legal team today.
Blunt Force Head Trauma Symptoms
Many closed head injuries are hard to diagnose without a medical professional, but there are some symptoms to look out for after experiencing blunt force head trauma. These symptoms can include:
- Persistent headache;
- Nausea;
- Vomiting;
- Fatigue;
- Blurred vision;
- Low blood pressure;
- Clear fluid draining from nose and ears;
- Weakness;
- Loss of coordination;
- Confusion;
- Memory loss;
- Loss of consciousness;
- Mood swings;
- Slurred speech;
- Convulsions;
- Seizures; and
- Inability to wake up from sleep.
What to Do if You Begin Experiencing Blunt Force Trauma Symptoms
If you have been involved in an accident or other traumatic event and have suffered any of the above symptoms, you should seek immediate medical attention. Since blunt force trauma doesn’t involve any penetrating trauma to the head, it can be hard to tell if there’s been a serious injury. Even mild symptoms can be indicative of a traumatic brain injury, so don’t wait to seek treatment or you could be at risk of suffering from additional brain damage.
How are Brain Injuries Diagnosed?
Unlike things like contusions or lacerations, traumatic brain injuries from blunt force trauma are internal injuries. Closed head injuries like these may require medical imaging to properly diagnose. A CT or MRI of the brain could help doctors see things like blood clots, internal bleeding, fluid buildup, and skull fractures.
Some doctors may also evaluate a patient using the Glasgow Coma Scale. This helps medical professionals measure decreases in consciousness by scoring patients based on their responses to physical, visual, tactile, and mental stimuli. If a patient scores relatively high on the Glasgow Coma Scale at first and then scores lower a few minutes later, that tells doctors that the patient is experiencing a decrease in consciousness. Additionally, a low score overall could indicate the patient has a traumatic brain injury, and the lower the score, the more severe the brain injury.
Can You Recover from Blunt Force Head Trauma?
Yes, in certain cases, you can recover from blunt force head trauma. Brain damage from mild head trauma may heal on its own with time. Damage from a severe head injury, however, may require more time and extensive treatment to fix. In some cases, damage from a severe traumatic brain injury may never fully heal, even with proper medical treatment.
Treatments for Traumatic Brain Injuries
Treatment plans for traumatic brain injuries vary depending on the extent of the physical damage done to the brain. For a mild traumatic brain injury, doctors may prescribe painkillers and recommend the patient get a lot of rest.
For more severe complications, doctors may order surgical intervention to remove dead brain tissue or fluid buildup, repair a skull fracture, or alleviate pressure inside the head. Additionally, they may prescribe medications to help prevent blood clotting, seizures, or muscle spasms. In some blunt force head trauma cases, patients may need physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, or mental health therapy in the weeks, months, and even years following their accident.
If Someone Else Caused Your Head Trauma, You Are Entitled To Financial Compensation
If you or a close family member has suffered from blunt force head trauma as a result of someone else’s negligence or purposeful action, you may be able to recover compensation in a personal injury case. If you are interested in seeking compensation for blunt force trauma, call the Shreveport personal injury lawyers at Gordon & Gordon Law Firm at (318) 716-HELP. We can help you recover compensation for past medical bills and even long-term compensation for severe injuries.
Four Elements of Negligence
When proving negligence, there are four things that must be present in order for an action to be considered “negligent.” These conditions are duty of care, breach of duty of care, causation, and damages.
- Duty of care refers to a person’s responsibility to keep others free of harm. In the context of a car accident, each driver has a duty of care to other motorists and should behave in a way that minimizes harm to others. This could be limiting distractions, driving responsibly, and not getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
- Beach of duty of care occurs when someone behaves in a way that could cause others harm, like texting while driving.
- Causation occurs when someone breaches their duty of care to another person and causes them to suffer from harm. This could come in the form of physical injuries, like blunt force head trauma, as well as emotional injuries and/or property damage.
- Damages refer to the things the victim suffered from as a result of the breach of care. These could be medical bills from a head injury or lost wages from the days after the accident when the victim couldn’t return to work.
Potential Brain Injury Damages
If you or a loved one has suffered from blunt force head trauma, you may be able to receive financial compensation for certain damages.
Some of these damages include:
- Medical expenses;
- Lost wages;
- Assistive medical equipment;
- Mental anguish;
- Physical pain and suffering;
- Loss of consortium;
- Loss of earning ability; and
- Funeral and burial expenses in the event of wrongful death.
If a person suffers from severe traumatic brain injuries, the victim and their family may be able to recover a more significant amount of compensation. While this money can’t undo the event, it can certainly help alleviate concerns about medical bills, rent, and other expenses while healing from the accident. If you would like to discuss your claim with a personal injury expert, call the North Louisiana brain injury lawyers at Gordon & Gordon Law Firm at (318) 716-HELP.
Call The Louisiana Brain Injury Attorneys at Gordon & Gordon Today
Blunt force head trauma can alter a person’s life in an instant, which is why it’s so important for negligent people to be held responsible for causing this kind of damage.
Our personal injury law firm can help you receive proper compensation for your brain injury so that you can focus on recovering rather than repaying bills. Call us at (318) 716-HELP or contact us online so that we can discuss your case and begin working on your behalf.