Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Ready To Help You
According to the Brain Injury Alliance, approximately 2.8 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury each year. As many as 155 people in the U.S. die each day from injuries that include a traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries disable six times more people every year than breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries each year. While falls are the leading cause of TBI in the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of TBI-related deaths for children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 24.
Contact sports like football and boxing also result in traumatic brain injuries—the average high school lineman takes the equivalent of a 25-mile an hour car crash in hits to the head each season. Having an experienced New Orleans traumatic brain injury attorney by your side following your auto accident can make a huge difference in the outcome. At New Orleans Legal we help those who come to us with a diverse set of problems. These individuals find themselves facing issues they simply cannot handle on their own.
When you are injured through no fault of your own, and those injuries include a serious brain injury, New Orleans Legal attorney Peter J. Diiorio can help. We offer a highly personalized service, with aggressive, legal representation to each client. We maintain the highest standards of excellence, compassion, and integrity while fighting for your rights and your future every step of the way. We always pick up the phone when our clients call, working closely with them to provide a solid, personalized approach to every case.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury is a sudden injury that causes damage to the brain—sometimes irreparable damage. A TBI can occur when the head is subjected to a blow, jolt, bump, or violent “snapping” of the brain inside the hard skull. A TBI can also occur when an object penetrates the skull. A traumatic brain injury can be mild, moderate, or severe. Generally, a concussion is considered a mild TBI—even though the symptoms can be serious, most people will recover from their concussion with time. More serious TBIs can cause long-term (or lifelong) physical and psychological symptoms, coma, or even death.
What are the Different Levels of Traumatic Brain Injury?
A mild TBI is much more likely to occur than a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. A mild TBI may cause a brief loss of consciousness, usually only for seconds, or perhaps a few minutes. Even if you never lose consciousness, you could still experience a mild TBI. Mild traumatic brain injuries can lead to nausea, headaches, dizziness, temporary confusion, a ringing in the ears, and other physical symptoms, but rarely causes psychological issues.
Memory loss can occur from a mild TBI, but generally lasts less than an hour. Diagnosing a mild traumatic brain injury can be difficult, since there may be nothing on imaging tests to suggest the injury. Doctors must usually diagnose mild traumatic brain injuries on nothing more than patient reporting of symptoms.
A moderate traumatic brain injury can be caused by being shaken violently, or a blow to the head. Those who experience a moderate TBI will almost certainly experience a loss of consciousness that can last for a few minutes, or as long as a few hours. Victims of a moderate TBI may experience significant cognitive, behavioral, and physical symptoms for days, weeks, or months. These symptoms may include:
- Memory loss
- Confusion
- Persistent headaches
- Nausea or vomiting
- An inability to sleep
- Dilation of one or both pupils
- Weakness or numbness in the fingers or toes
- Slurred speech
- Vertigo
- Psychological symptoms
Imaging tests can diagnose moderate TBIs, allowing doctors to determine the location of the brain injury, as well as the extent of the injury. A severe traumatic brain injury can result in any of the symptoms of a moderate brain injury, as well as:
- Convulsions or seizures
- Loss of consciousness for 24 hours or more
- Clear fluids draining from the nose or ears
- An inability to awaken from sleep
- Loss of coordination
- Profound confusion
- Agitation, combativeness, or other personality changes
- Slurred speech
- Permanent cognitive, behavioral, and physical changes
- Coma
How Even a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Can Have a Huge Impact on Your Life
Even a mild traumatic brain injury—often known simply as a concussion—can have a significant impact on your life and your future. In many cases, dizziness, depression, and migraines can be caused by a “mild” TBI, and can last for months or sometimes even years. In addition to migraines, tension headaches, cervical headaches, and neuralgic pain can all be caused by a mild TBI and can last for a considerable length of time. Sensitivity to light is often a side effect of a mild TBI, caused by the brain’s new inability to adapt to brightness levels. Sensitivity to light can also bring pain and dizziness. This sensitivity to light can last for six months to a year following the injury.
A mild TBI can cause sleep issues, in particular, sleepiness during the day and restlessness at night. Mood swings are another common symptom of mild TBIs, due to damage in the area of the brain that regulates our emotions. These regions in the brain control our ability to inhibit our emotions, our awareness of our own emotions and the emotions of others, and our emotional responses. A mild traumatic brain injury can cause people who were formerly calm and easy-going to exhibit anger and frustration much more often than they did prior to the injury. Mild TBIs can also cause cognitive impairments such as an inability to make decisions and plan, difficulty learning, issues with short-term memory, and problems with attention span and processing speed.
How Do Car Accidents and Other Personal Injury Accidents Cause TBIs?
Car accidents and slip and falls are both common causes of closed traumatic brain injuries. Among young adults, auto accidents (including car, truck, bicycle, motorcycle, bus, pedestrian, and boat accidents) are the number one cause of TBI among younger adults. Being struck by an object is a common cause of construction accident TBIs, while slip and falls can occur anywhere a dangerous condition exists on a property, whether private or public. In some cases, a work accident can lead to a traumatic brain injury.
How an Experienced New Orleans Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Can Help
If you or a loved one has experienced a traumatic brain injury, having an experienced New Orleans traumatic brain injury attorney from New Orleans Legal can make a significant difference in the outcome. We will work hard to ensure you receive the medical treatment you need to begin healing from your brain injury. If you value honesty, transparency, and a willingness to always put clients first, attorney Peter J. Diiorio and New Orleans Legal is the right law firm for you following a traumatic brain injury caused by the negligence of another.
One major difference between New Orleans Legal and other law firms is the level of personalization we offer our clients. We get to know you, understand your needs, and find out your expectations for your claim. We are always available to you, even when you are unable to come to us. Contact New Orleans Legal for exemplary legal representation following your traumatic brain injury.
