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Types of Brain Injuries Caused by Car Crashes

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In the blink of an eye, a car accident can cause life-threatening injuries, including damage to the brain. Even if there are no outward signs of injury, such as broken bones or lacerations, what happens within the skull is very different.

Remember that your skull is incredibly hard. It has the job of protecting your brain from any type of impact or injury. Yet, that does not mean that the brain is fully protected from injury, even if the skull is not damaged. Traumatic brain injuries can occur when there is damage to the brain for multiple reasons. A Springfield car accident attorney from Holley Rosen & Beard can help.

Common Types of Brain Injuries in Car Accidents

The following are some examples of common brain injuries that are frequently observed in a car accident. Factors like speed, impact location, and overall types of vehicles play a role in what occurs.

  • Open head injuries: This type of injury occurs when the skull suffers a fracture. This could include glass or metal that slashes into the brain, causing direct wounds to the brain tissues. These are some of the most critical injuries because there is often blood loss and damage to the tissues of the brain.
  • Closed head injuries: A closed head injury occurs when a person suffers a traumatic brain injury, but there are limited outward signs that something is wrong. Often referred to as a silent killer, these types of accidents can take longer to become obvious, and in some cases, that could mean days.

Examples of closed head injuries include:

  • Concussions: A concussion occurs when the brain suffers injury due to the impact or change in momentum. For example, the brain may move rapidly forward and backward in the skull, slamming into the skull as it does. This can cause serious injury.
  • Contusions: This type of injury occurs when there is tissue-like bruising on the brain due to the bursting of small blood vessels.
  • Diffuse axonal injuries: Often called a shearing injury, this occurs when the nerves of the brain are pulled and stretched to the point where they break. This occurs in violent rotations often leading to numerous areas of cell damage, and over time, death.
  • Coup-contrecoup injuries: This type of contusion injury occurs on either side of the brain when there is a violent impact or a change in momentum present. This causes the skull’s motion to suddenly chain, leading to a hit on either side of the head from the movement of the brain.

All injuries to the brain are serious, and not all of them are obvious right away. If you were in a car accident, and you suffered obvious wounds or hit your head, it is critical to go to the emergency room to seek medical care for the losses you have. If you develop pain, headaches, confusion, or any other out-of-the-ordinary symptoms of mental fog in the days after your accident, or you have new pain, seek out help from the emergency room. Traumatic brain injuries like this can be life-threatening. Call the office of Holley Rosen & Beard to schedule a free consultation with a Springfield car accident attorney today.