What Kind of Head Injuries Can You Get from a Car Accident?

Head injuries can be severe, resulting in life-long injuries and disability. You may be able to recover compensation for your head injury.

Auto accidents are one of the leading causes of head injuries. When an individual is involved in a crash, they are subjected to hard blows, jolts, and bumps to the head. However, various types of head injuries can occur under different circumstances with different levels of severity and symptoms.

Head injuries can be severe, resulting in life-long injuries and disability. If you or a loved one have suffered a head injury due to a car accident in New York, you must understand your legal rights and options.

Types of Car Accident Head Injuries

First, head injuries are categorized as either open or closed. The symptoms of these injuries range in severity and may develop immediately or slowly over days or weeks.

  • Closed head injury – This occurs when the head receives a hard hit from an object, but the skull is not broken.
  • Open head injury – This occurs when the blow to the head is powerful enough to break the skull and penetrate the brain.

Second, there are five leading kinds of head injuries resulting from car accidents. These include the following:

  1. Concussion – This type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and body. It results in temporary loss of normal brain function, either with or without loss of consciousness. Symptoms include headache, lack of coordination, confusion, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, ringing in the ears, memory loss, excessive fatigue, and sleepiness.
  2. Brain Contusion – This is a bruise to the brain itself. It can cause bleeding and swelling inside the brain around the area where the head was hit. Contusions often occur with skull fractures. Contusions usually heal unaided, but they can lead to more severe consequences, such as bleeding on the brain and blot clots. The symptoms are similar to those of a concussion.
  3. Skull Fractures – When the blow to the head is powerful enough, the skull can actually fracture. This injury leads to other brain injuries, such as concussions and contusions. Symptoms include bleeding from the nose or ears, bruising, and head swelling at the impact site.
  4. Penetrating Head Wounds – This injury occurs when an object breaks through the skull and enters the brain. These head injuries are almost always fatal. Those that do survive are left with debilitating, life-long effects.
  5. Coup-Contrecoup Injury – This head injury is localized in two separate areas of the brain, which are opposed. This occurs when the head is flung from one direction to another with such force that it hits the inside of the skull and bounces back, hitting the skull again on the opposite side. This results in two contusions, with the symptoms being worse.

All brain injuries are serious, even the seemingly minor ones. If you suffered a head injury in a car accident, it’s essential to understand that recovery can be strenuous and costly.

NY Car Accident Lawyers

For more than 45 years, New York car accident attorneys at our law firm have helped hundreds of injury victims and their families obtain millions of dollars in compensation. Contact Apicella & Schlesinger Attorneys at Law to schedule your free and confidential consultation.