Traumatic brain injuries–or head injuries that cause damage to the brain–are far more common than most of us realize, especially after an accident. One of the most unfortunate things about sustaining this type of injury is that it can easily go unnoticed, leaving victims without necessary medical care, chronic cognitive and memory problems, and difficulties in receiving the compensation they need to heal.
With a little background knowledge, however, you can respond to this type of injury in ways that may improve your outcome. If you are having trouble recovering the compensation you need to recover, the traumatic brain injury lawyers at Buttafuoco & Associates may be able to help.
1. Seek Medical Care
After any accident where you hit your head, whether on the floor after a fall, or on your steering wheel during a collision, seeking medical care should be your first step. While traumatic brain injuries are sometimes caused by deep punctures to the skull or hard blows to the head, anything that causes your head to shake against your skull can cause a traumatic brain injury.
Even if you feel fine immediately after an accident, internal bleeding, concussions, and other brain injuries may not become evident until hours afterward. The best first step after any accident is to visit the emergency room or your doctor as soon as possible.
2. Know the Signs of Traumatic Brain Injury
All too often, accident victims who think they are fine skip getting medical treatment, only to find that they feel unwell in the hours or days afterwards. If you know the signs, you can get prompt treatment, which can not only improve your prognosis, but will also better your chances of being fairly compensated so you can make a full recovery. Signs of a traumatic brain injury can be hard to notice and can vary widely. They may include:
- Persistent or increasingly painful headache
- Confusion
- Memory problems
- Cognitive issues/difficulty thinking clearly
- Difficulty speaking
- Dizziness
- Nausea or vomiting
- Blurry vision
- Mood or behavioral changes
- Ringing in the ears
- Disrupted sleep
If you notice that you are experiencing any of these issues after an accident, contact a health care provider immediately.
3. Be on the lookout for new or persistent symptoms
Surprisingly, traumatic brain injuries can sometimes go unnoticed for a significant amount of time. This is especially true for people who have no other bodily injuries after an accident or who do not feel any physical discomfort. Memory problems, cognitive issues, and motor coordination problems, if left unchecked, can eventually prevent you from completing everyday tasks or going to work.
Remember, the longer you wait to seek medical help for this type of injury, the more difficult it may be to recover. If you wait too long after your accident, you could also encounter problems with your insurance company because they could attribute the injury to a different cause. If in doubt, call your doctor.
4. Contact a lawyer
After a traumatic brain injury, even if it is something as common as a concussion, dealing with insurance companies can be exhausting and difficult. Insurers will often try everything they can to avoid paying a victim what they need to recover after this type of injury, and if you are having cognitive difficulties or physical pain, it will be even harder to negotiate. There are many ways a New York traumatic brain injury lawyer can help make your life easier and improve the outcome of your case. A lawyer can:
- Gather evidence from the scene about the accident that support your case
- Gather witness statements
- Accurately determine how much compensation you are eligible for
- Work with medical experts to determine your future medical needs and compensation amounts
- Work with financial experts to determine compensation for income loss
- Negotiate with insurance companies to help you be fairly compensated and get full treatment without personal debt or financial hardship
At Buttafuoco & Associates, we have been helping victims of traumatic brain injury accidents receive fair compensation so they can get the treatment they need to move forward with their lives. To find out more about your case, get in touch with us for a free consultation at (516) 746-8100.
