What Are the Long-Term Effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Posted in Traumatic Brain Injury on February 22, 2021

Traumatic brain injuries can be devastating for victims. Often, those who sustain a traumatic brain injury suffer from both temporary and permanent disabilities that can affect their day-to-day lives. This can include their ability to work or even go about their daily activities. Not only do brain injury victims suffer in these cases, but their families also go through financial and emotional challenges. Here, we want to discuss the long-term effects that victims and family members can expect after a traumatic brain injury.

The short-term effects are often only the beginning

Most people who experience a brain injury will have some sort of short term effects that could significantly impact their day to day life. Often, brain injury victims experience the following signs and symptoms immediately after a head injury occurs:

• Loss of consciousness
• Disorientation
• Severe headaches
• Unusual behavior
• Confusion

However, moderate to severe brain injuries can have lasting impacts on a victim. The full effects of a brain injury will vary depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding each particular injury. For example, some of the main contributing factors to the long-term effects of a brain injury include what area of the brain is affected, how quickly a person received medical care, and the effectiveness of the medical care they received.

The long term effects of a traumatic brain injury

Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries could result in extended periods of lost consciousness or even a coma. However, severe brain injury victims who do regain consciousness could experience significant long-term disabilities, including the following:

• Partial or complete paralysis
• A loss of fine motor skills
• Speech and language problems
• Loss of coordination
• Difficulty remembering or thinking
• Other cognitive problems
• Bowel or bladder control problems
• Newfound behavioral issues

Aside from the physiological, psychological, and emotional long term consequences of a traumatic brain injury, victims and family members have other matters to contend with. Any victim who experiences the symptoms listed above will likely have trouble carrying out their everyday activities and responsibilities. They most likely will not be able to hold any type of job, and brain injury victims may require substantial in-home care. All of these factors can contribute to significant financial difficulties for the injury victim and their family members.

Can brain injury victims recover compensation?

If a person sustains a brain injury caused by the careless or negligent actions of another individual, business, or entity, they will likely be able to recover compensation for their losses. However, brain injury cases can become incredibly complex. Some of the types of compensation that a victim may be able to recover include the following:

• Full compensation of all medical expenses
• Coverage of long term in-home care needs
• Compensation for physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Compensation for any medical devices needed
• Pain and suffering damages
• Loss of quality of life damages
• Possible punitive damages against a grossly negligent party

We strongly recommend that all brain injury victims and their family members work with a skilled personal injury lawyer who has experience handling these cases. An attorney can use their resources to conduct a complete investigation into the case and determine liability. An attorney will also work with qualified medical and economic experts to properly calculate the total expected losses the victim will incur.