If you were conscious after the initial impact of force when another car struck your vehicle on a Texas roadway, you may have felt frightened, confused or even angry after the collision. Did another driver make an unsafe lane change? Was someone texting or drunk at the wheel? Regardless of what the exact details are that led to the collision, it’s important to closely monitor your condition in the days and weeks that follow.
Not every accident injury is immediately apparent. You hopefully received a medical examination as soon as possible when rescuers arrived at the scene. Even so, as time passes in the aftermath, if you don’t feel well or additional symptoms arise, it’s a good idea to return to the hospital or report your symptoms to your primary care physician. In fact, some symptoms may suggest that you have suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Issues that warrant concern
It’s common to feel sore, anxious or even sick to your stomach after you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle collision. However, if the pain centralizes in your head, face, or neck and upper back areas, it could signify an underlying brain injury. The same goes for nausea. If you feel queasy or, especially, if you vomit, it’s wise to seek immediate medical attention as this is a common symptom of TBI.
Additional information you should know
Traumatic brain injury can be minor, moderate or severe. You may have one or numerous symptoms, sometimes, showing no sign of injury at all until after you’ve gone home to recover from an accident. A motor vehicle collision isn’t the only possible cause of a TBI. If someone hits you in the head, shakes you or a piece of heavy equipment falls on you, it can cause serious, even permanent, brain damage.
If you feel dizzy, extremely fatigued, confused or emotionally unstable, it is reason enough to seek further medical attention, making sure your care provider knows you were recently involved in a collision or other incident that may have caused brain damage. Unsteady gait, blurred vision and weakness, or numbness in extremities also suggest possible TBI.
Better to err on the side of safety
If you seek medical attention and a physician rules out TBI, you’ve lost nothing but gained some good news. However, prompt medical care may be the key to a successful recovery if you do have symptoms of a brain injury. Doctors know what questions to ask and what tests to run to determine if you have a TBI.
What if you do?
Recovering from a brain injury can be a long, arduous and challenging experience. It’s possible that, although you may recover enough to resume many of your daily responsibilities and activities, you could also continue to experience lingering symptoms associated with your condition. In worst cases, some accident victims need lifelong daily living assistance due to TBI.
Whether your injuries are moderate or severe, there’s no reason you should have to bear the full financial burden of a collision that someone else caused because he or she was negligent or reckless behind the wheel. Texas law allows recovering accident victims to seek restitution for damages.