What are Common Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms?

A traumatic brain injury, or TBI or intracranial injury, is a type of head injury. It can result in social, physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral deficiencies.

As a traumatic brain injury lawyer, Andrew Ellis knows how these injuries go far beyond the clinical. There are devastating consequences that can affect every aspect of the patient’s life, from how they manage once easy activities – like bathing and eating – to drastically altering the lives of everyone around them.

What follows is an overview of traumatic brain injuries, including causes, signs, symptoms, and how they affect us.

What are Traumatic Brain Injuries?

TBIs should not be confused with head injuries. A head injury can involve damage to the skull and scalp. A traumatic brain injury is the result of a jolt that actually shifts the position of the brain. Depending on the severity of the impact, the brain can actually bounce against skull walls.

The most common form of TBI is a concussion. A concussion has to be monitored carefully as it can appear to be a mild injury – starting with wooziness, confusion, or loss of consciousness. But a concussion can lead to alterations in motor skills, speech patterns, cognitive ability, and the senses.

Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms: What to Watch Out For

• The most common symptom of a TBI is pressure on the cranium, causing headaches, migraines, or other painful sensations.
• Problems with vision: uneven pupils, dilation, blurred imagery.
• Difficulty participating in once common activities due to: dizziness, loss of consciousness, an onset of confusion, lightheadedness, delayed response, unexplained fatigue or changes in sleep habits.
• Slurred speech
• Memory loss
• Mood and behavioral swings
• Other physical changes can include ringing or buzzing in the ears, vomiting or nausea, seizures, convulsions, unusual tastes in the mouth, tingling or numbness in the limbs, and loss of coordination.

Causes of a TBI

Many associate TBIs with car accidents and, recently, with sports like football. The truth is a traumatic brain injury can occur in any incident where the head is struck or jolted. Individuals wearing seat belts have suffered traumatic brain injuries when rear ended. Motorcyclists with the market’s best helmets have experienced TBIs after a fall.

TBIs can also occur after a slip-and-fall. The traumatic brain injury is not determined by the incident, but by factors like damage to brain cells and movement of the brain in the skull resulting in points of damage.

Call a TBI Attorney at Ellis Injury Law

Throughout California, Ellis Injury Law has used its expertise to help the injured and their families manage as normal a life as possible despite life-changing accidents that have resulted in TBIs. A Los Angeles brain injury attorney can provide you with aggressive legal advocacy to make sure negligent parties are held responsible for your injuries. Our attorneys have the experience to help you get the maximum compensation possible for your case.

If you or someone you know is suffering from a traumatic brain injury, give Ellis Injury Law a call at 310-641-3335 and arrange for a free consultation to assess your legal rights.

Additional “TBI Symptoms” Resources:

1. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Traumatic brain injury information page, https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/all-disorders
2. American Academy of Family Physicians. Traumatic brain injury: Symptoms, https://familydoctor.org/condition/traumatic-brain-injury/
3. Department of Rehabilitation, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), http://www.rehab.ca.gov/boards-and-committees/TBI