Whether you’re a construction worker who suffered a head injury in a fall at work requiring workers’ compensation or a pedestrian who had a slip-and-fall injury resulting in a personal injury claim, injuries are all too common in our hectic lives. Regardless of the cause, everyone should understand the risks involving head injuries and the nature of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
How damage occurs
Despite being protected inside a person’s skull, a person’s brain is very susceptible to injury. A traumatic brain injury happens when the head strikes an object, or an object strikes a person’s head to cause stretching, twisting or the compression of brain cell fibers. These kinds of impacts are only a few of the ways that the human brain can become damaged from an injury. Here are some the ways brain injuries occur:
- Skull damage: An injury that results in a skull fracture or piercing is one of the most severe types of impact damage. These injuries can cause blood loss, direct physical harm, blood clots, and reduction of blood flow to essential areas.
- Anoxia/hypoxia: This form of injury results from a lack of oxygen. Accidents that involve asphyxiation, drowning, crushing (such as when a person becomes pinned in a car accident) or low oxygen environments (such as in facility storage accidents) can cause brain cell death from a lack of oxygen.
- Diffuse axonal injury (DAI): This damage results from the rapid acceleration or deceleration of nerve tissue, such as what might occur in a car accident or a slip-and-fall injury.
Finding support for lasting injuries
There is so much about brain injuries that we don’t understand. What we do know is that those people who become injured due to negligence need compensation to account for the lifelong issues and medical expenses that could arise from a traumatic brain injury. Depending on where and when you were injured, you must contact an attorney with experience in both personal injury claims and workers’ compensation to see what options you have.
