Brain damage comes in all shapes and sizes

It’s not just troops who have seen battle or colliding football players that are subject to brain injuries. Although those two demographics represent two of the more well-known causes of suffering brain damage, researchers think that hundreds of thousands more suffer TBIs as well. In Maryland and elsewhere, some people suffer these injuries, but they — and even their doctors — don’t know they have them.

It’s common knowledge that brain injuries can result when people fall from a ladder, slip and bash their heads or are involved in a car accident. However, one of the most insidious forms of brain injuries are subdural hematomas. Though they differ from the type of brain injury that a soldier or football player might suffer, they still affect many individuals. The elderly population is at risk for suffering this kind of brain injury.

Brain specialists recommend seeing a doctor if any individual — regardless of age — develops any number of differing symptoms. These include a headache that will not go away, weakness in the arms or legs as well as any cognitive changes experienced. For the last one, an individual or those close to them may simply observe that they seem “different.”

Brain damage can be difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to live with for the rest of an individual’s life, which is all the more reason that professional medical help should be sought, even when the bump seems relatively innocuous. If a Maryland resident suffers brain damage due to another party or parties’ negligence, they are typically entitled to file a personal injury claim against the party believed responsible. Maryland residents typically begin this process by consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney in order to establish the validity of their claim.

Source: npr.org, “How a simple bump can cause an insidious brain injury“, Daniel Zwerdling, Jan. 6, 2017