Brain injuries come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are minor brain injuries that can set someone back a few months or damage some bits of memory. Then there are the brain damage situations that people fear most. A severe brain injury can leave someone in a state where they’re unable to respond or do anything for themselves.d
It is possible to recover from some types of brain damage, and some doctors believe that it is possible to receive financial compensation for the lost quality of life even from severe situations. Of course, everything comes down to how you can approach your medical care and how you can handle your recovery. Contact our Ohio car accident attorneys today!
Traumatic Brain Injury And Severity
The first thing after a crash that comes with a brain injury is assessment. From the time you get into the ambulance, medical professionals are watching your responses to everything. They’ll determine if you’re conscious if your body is responding to physical changes such as light and sound. Then they’ll go through and assess what other functions were impacted during the crash
Traumatic brain injury does come in many different levels. For example, anyone with a minor concussion technically has moderate Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. That could include a football player who took a hard hit, or someone who hit their head on the steering wheel in a crash. You don’t have to lose consciousness to have TBI.
There are guidelines for diagnosing TBI, including a neurological exam and diagnostic imaging of the brain. TBI can appear alongside a contusion and other forms of brain damage. Often brain injuries will come in multiple steps rather than just one at a time. Doctors will use a CT scan; however, many people mistake the possibility of diagnosing TBI through an MRI. MRIs do not help doctors diagnose TBI.
Is It Possible To Recover From Minor Brain Damage?
Yes, in fact, of the ten levels of brain trauma, victims should expect a full recovery from the lowest three levels. Unlike other scales, the brain trauma scales work from one being the most severe to 10 being least severe. Essentially level one is a coma where the patient has no response to a stimulus.
Between levels 10 and 6, recovery is hopeful. At level six, the patient is “confused-appropriate,” meaning that they can go through daily activities, have self-awareness, and can relearn old skills. However, they may experience memory trouble and have difficulty learning new tasks.
A New Study On Recovery From Severe Brain Trauma
The goal of new and ongoing research is that doctors can improve the likelihood of recovery with early intervention. Rather than allowing someone to sit in a near vegetative state, subjecting someone to ongoing and scheduled stimulus, particularly from familiar people, may help.
At this time, all the intervention for severe traumatic brain injury is physical. Often the patient will go straight into surgery, undergo management for infection, and then be passed off to a new set of medical professionals.
However, these new studies look at the possibilities of rehabilitation through a team of differently trained medical professionals. The best results seem to come from psychologists, nurses, neurologists, speech therapists, respiratory therapists, and physical therapists working together for one patient.
How One Center In Texas Is Changing Treatment For Brain Damage
Nick Tullier is one of many patients treated at TIRR in Texas. This unique team is helping to train nurses and trauma staff to identify responses to stimulus that most medical professionals miss. The result is many patients who were at risk of losing all life support are leaving the hospital and going home instead of going to hospice.
The above mentioned Nick Tullier was an East Baton Rouge officer who was shot and experienced extreme brain trauma. His family was told to pull the plug. Now years later, he’s released from the hospital.
After A Brain Injury, Finding Legal Support For Crash Resolution With An Ohio Car Accident Attorney
Anyone who is hoping to make a substantial recovery needs to consider the medical costs. Families are often financially broken after one bad crash because a brain injury can call for a life of care. Few families in America can easily afford to keep around the Clock nurses or have someone remain in Hospice or a hospital for months at a time.
After a brain injury, you’ll need legal support to decide how you and your family can move forward financially. Often that means filing a claim through insurance and holding the at-fault driver responsible. At 1Ohio, you can find an Ohio car accident attorney close to you who can manage your case.
