Los Angeles Head Injury Lawyers

Types Of Head Injuries

There are several different kinds of head injuries. When a person seeks medical attention for head trauma, a doctor will often provide a thorough diagnosis of the extent of the damage.

Common outward signs of head injuries can include bumps, bruising, or bleeding. Some mild head injuries may also involve internal symptoms such as swelling of brain tissue.

Johns Hopkins Medicine emphasizes that head injuries commonly cause disability and death in adults. Still, the phrase “head injury” is also broad terminology for many different kinds of injuries. Common types of head injuries include concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), skull fractures, and intracranial hematoma (ICH).

Many head injuries can require intensive medical care that involves several months or even years of rehabilitation and recovery. It can be difficult for people to anticipate the various short- and long-term effects of a head injury.

Head injuries may be either closed or open, with a closed head injury meaning a person suffered a sharp blow to their head from striking an object that did not break the skull, while an open or penetrating head injury means a person was hit with an object that broke the skull and entered the brain.

In addition to possible brain damage, certain head injuries can also involve damage to other structural parts of the body, like the neck and spinal cord. The common kinds of head injuries include, but are not limited to:

• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) — A TBI often results from violent blows or jolts to a person’s head or body, and objects going through brain tissue can also cause TBIs. TBIs usually have the potential to cause long-term complications or death.
• Concussions — Perhaps the most common kind of head injury that causes a loss of awareness that may last a couple of minutes or possibly a few hours.
• Hematoma — A hematoma is a pool of mostly clotted blood forming in an organ, tissue, or body space. They are often caused by broken blood vessels damaged by surgery or injuries and can occur anywhere in the body, including the brain. Many hematomas will be small and go away on their own, but some may need to be removed by surgery.
• Hemorrhage — A brain hemorrhage is a kind of stroke caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localized bleeding in surrounding tissues. The bleeding kills brain cells and accounts for many strokes.
• Cerebral Edema — Cerebral edema is also known as brain swelling and involves an increase in pressure in a person’s head that disrupts the blood-brain barrier. Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) can prevent oxygen-rich blood from flowing to the brain, block fluids from leaving the brain, and even damage or kill brain cells, making cerebral edema a life-threatening condition that can cause permanent brain damage or death when not treated quickly.
• Skull Fracture — A skull fracture is a break in the skull bone. The four major types of skull fractures include linear skull fractures, which are the most common type of skull fracture in which there is a break in the bone but does not move the bone; depressed skull fractures, in which the skull is actually sunken in from trauma; diastatic skull fractures occurring along the suture lines in the skull; and basilar skull fractures that are the most serious type of skull fracture, involving a break in the bone at the base of the skull.
• Intracranial Hematoma (ICH) — There are different kinds of ICH, or blood clots, in or around the brain, classified by the location in the brain. ICH can range from mild head injuries to serious and possibly life-threatening injuries. Different types of ICH include epidural hematoma, which occurs when a blood clot forms underneath the skull but on top of the dura; subdural hematoma, which occurs when a blood clot forms underneath the skull and underneath the dura but outside of the brain; contusions or intracerebral hematoma, which is a bruise to the brain itself, diffuse axonal injuries (DAIs), which involve shaking of the brain back and forth and may be mild or very severe.

Virtually all of these different head injuries have the potential to result in permanent brain damage. Some head injuries are going to require intensive medical treatment as well as prolonged rehabilitation time.

Medical treatment of head injuries can often be very costly, and brain injury victims, in particular, may be unable to return to work or participate in other activities. As all of these costs add up for people, it becomes increasingly important for any head injury victim to seek compensation. Experienced head injury lawyers in Los Angeles can provide appropriate legal counsel and advocacy for the victims during this process.

Wrongful Deaths Due To Head Injuries

During a 30-year study period, the University of Pennsylvania Health System reported that adults who suffered a head injury during a 30-year study period had twice the rate of mortality as people who did not have a head injury, and mortality rates among people with moderate or severe head injuries were nearly three times higher. More than 23 million adults aged 40 or older in the United States reported a history of head injury with loss of consciousness.

The Penn Medicine study also found that 18.4 percent of study participants reported one or more head injuries, while 12.4 percent of people who suffered a head injury were recorded as moderate or severe, with the median period of time between a head injury and death being 4.7 years. In fact, people who suffered a head injury were at risk of death from all causes 64.6% of the time, while people who did not suffer a head injury were at risk of death 52.6% of the time.

The mortality rate from all causes among participants with a head injury was reported to be 2.21 times higher than the mortality rate among those with no head injury. Meanwhile, the mortality rate among those with more severe head injuries was 2.87 times higher than the mortality rate among those with no head injuries.

Common Symptoms And Treatment For Head Injuries

Head injuries can often be difficult for most people to diagnose on their own, and many people will not know that they suffered a head injury until they begin experiencing some of the more debilitating symptoms. In these cases, the common symptoms of minor head injuries can include:

• Raised, swollen area from a bump or a bruise
• Headaches
• Small, superficial (shallow) cut in the scalp
• Confusion
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Spinning sensations
• Problems with balance
• Mild confusion
• Problems with memory or concentration
• Nausea
• Blurred vision
• “Tired” eyes
• Fatigue or lethargy
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Headache
• Sensitivity to noise and light
• Irritability
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Alteration in taste

Common symptoms of more severe head injuries can include:

• Loss of consciousness.
• Foreign objects penetrating the head.
• Seizures or convulsions.
• Severe headache that does not go away.
• Repeated nausea and vomiting.
• Difficulty walking.
• Balance or coordination problems.
• Loss of short-term memory.
• Serious disorientation.
• Weakness in one side or area of the body.
• Slurred speech.
• Behavior changes, including irritability.
• Blood or clear fluid draining from the ears or nose.
• Excessive sweating.
• Pale skin color.
• An inability to focus the eyes.
• Abnormal eye movement.
• Loss of muscle control.
• One pupil dilates or constricts in response to light.
• Persistent or worsening headache.
• Memory loss or amnesia.
• Mood swings.
• Clear fluid leaking from the ears or nose.

All head injuries need to be taken seriously, even minor ones. There can be dramatic consequences when people do not seek appropriate medical care for a head injury.

As soon as a person suffers brain trauma of any kind, it is advisable to seek medical help and diagnosis before consulting with a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer.