Some brain injuries are at their worst when they first occur. An example of this is a concussion where a person loses consciousness. They may be knocked out for a few seconds, but everything after that is recovery. Their brain is healing.
However, it’s dangerous to assume that this happens with every traumatic brain injury. In some cases, the injury itself can actually become more severe over time. There are even cases where a brain injury can become fatal if the person doesn’t get the proper treatment. Why would this happen?
Bleeding in or around the brain
Often, this happens because there is bleeding in or around the brain tissues that were injured. This bleeding, if unchecked, puts increasing pressure on the brain cells and presses the brain itself against the inside of the skull. There’s no way for the body to let off this pressure without medical intervention so that pressure keeps growing over time. One example of this is a subdural hematoma, but bleeding can also happen within the brain itself – and not just in the surrounding tissues.
If there is bleeding in the brain tissues, that’s when symptoms will often start to escalate. An injured person may start to exhibit mental confusion. They may have trouble with motor skills. They may become very fatigued. They could even lose consciousness.
Have you been injured?
If you’ve suffered a head injury in a car accident, you can see why it’s very important to keep an eye on the symptoms and seek medical treatment when necessary. But this type of treatment for a brain injury can be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, if someone else was responsible for causing the car crash that led to the TBI, be sure you also know how you can seek financial compensation for medical bills and more.
