Not all brain injuries carry the same level of severity. If you hit your head in a car accident, you could suffer a mild concussion. This may lead to a headache, fatigue, dizziness, and other such symptoms. But those symptoms will usually fade over the next 24 hours, and many people recover from concussions in the following week or two.
It’s dangerous, though, to assume that you have a minor brain injury, such as a slight concussion. If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you need to take every brain injury seriously. It’s important to get medical care so that you actually know how complex your injuries are.
Some brain injuries grow worse with time
Most external injuries are immediately severe and then get better as they heal. But internal injuries, such as brain injuries, can be different. The injury may appear mild at the accident scene, but it can get more severe as time goes by.
For example, rather than a concussion, say that you have a brain hemorrhage. When a blood vessel breaks, certain parts of the brain can’t get the oxygen that they need. Other parts of the brain may experience excessive pressure, as the bleeding continues and the blood itself puts more pressure on the surrounding brain tissue. This can even lead to cell death or more severe symptoms.
There are treatments for a brain hemorrhage or other serious issues, but injured people sometimes try to simply recover at home – assuming they have a concussion – and then pass away when their brain injury becomes more severe. This is why you need to know about your options to seek proper medical care after the crash and to seek financial compensation from the driver who caused the accident.