How Can I Tell if a Head Injury From a Car Accident is Mild or Severe?

Head injuries are common consequences of car accidents. If you suffered a head impact during a car accident, you should assume that you suffered an injury rather than take a “wait and see” attitude. The irony is that while the symptoms of a head injury do not always show up immediately, head injuries still require immediate medical attention. Since it might not always be clear at first whether your head injury is mild or severe, it’s best to err on the side of caution.

Types of head injuries

Head injuries come in several different forms.

Lacerations

Lacerations are cuts, and cuts are common consequences of broken glass. You treat a laceration the same way that you would treat any other cut. Take special care, however, to avoid assuming that your head injury is limited to lacerations. You could have suffered another type of head injury, such as a concussion, in addition to your lacerations.

Symptoms

A laceration can be mild or severe. The symptoms of a head laceration include:

• Heavy bleeding. The scalp is particularly vulnerable to bleeding. Don’t ignore heavy bleeding
• A visible cut on the scalp. If the cut is obscured by hair, you should still be able to see matted blood in the hair.
• Swelling around the cuts.
• Bruising around the cuts.
• Exposed tissue. In severe lacerations, you might even be able to see part of the skull.

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a head injury caused by blunt impact. If your head hits the dashboard or the steering wheel in a car accident, for example, your brain might impact the inside of your skull to cause this injury. A concussion is a mild TBI.

Second impact syndrome

Second impact syndrome (SIS) is a rare condition that occurs when you suffer a second concussion before the first one fully heals.  Even a minor impact can cause rapid brain swelling, possibly leading to death. The symptoms of SIS include:

• Dilated pupils, which is an especially telltale sign if only one eye has a dilated pupil
• Loss of consciousness might occur immediately upon impact or shortly afterward
• Loss of eye movement
• Coma (long-term unconsciousness)
• Respiratory failure, which can kill you in as little as five minutes
• Seizures
• Rapid neurological deterioration (confusion, disorientation, difficulty staying awake, loss of balance, abnormal breathing, slurred speech, inability to understand speech, lack of coordination or motor control, weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, unconsciousness, and death)
• Increased intracranial pressure (sudden nausea, severe headaches that worsen in the morning or when you are lying down, drowsiness, confusion, lethargy, high blood pressure, slow or irregular breathing, and slow heart rate)

The mortality rate for SIS is high and survivors may be left with permanent neurological damage. Teenagers and young adults are particularly vulnerable to SIS.

Contusions

A contusion is essentially a bruise on the brain caused by internal bleeding. The symptoms are similar to a concussion, except that neurological symptoms might be more severe.

Skull fracture

A skull fracture occurs when you break or crack your skull. These injuries vary widely in severity. In more serious cases, part of the skull will collapse. A fracture at the base of the skull can result in the leaking of cerebrospinal fluid, which is a very serious condition. Symptoms include bleeding, bruising around the eyes and behind the ears, fluid leakage from the nose and ears, and swelling. This is a serious head injury.

Hematoma

A hematoma is a collection of blood outside the blood vessels of the brain. Bleeding might occur between the skull and the brain’s outer covering, between the brain and its outer covering, or within the brain. A hematoma is more serious than a contusion; in fact, it can be life-threatening.

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI)

A diffuse axonal injury is widespread tearing of brain tissue caused by the violent shaking or sudden rotation of the head. It is common during serious car accidents, and it often results in severe brain damage or death.

Penetrating head injury

A penetrating head injury occurs when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain. Although this injury is often associated with a gunshot wound, it can occur during a serious car accident when a part of the car penetrates the brain. Penetrating head injuries are extremely serious.

Diagnosis

It is important that you get to the doctor as soon as possible after your injury. If your injury is serious enough, you might have to rely on others to get you to a hospital.

The initial examination

A doctor will answer the following questions to diagnose a head injury:

• How did the injury occur? A doctor might learn this from you, or, if you are unconscious or unable to communicate, from other people involved in the accident.
• Did you lose consciousness? If so, for how long?
• Did you suffer from confusion, memory loss, seizures, or vomiting?

The doctor will check your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. They will also examine you from the outside for evidence of bruising, bleeding, swelling, skull deformities, and lacerations on and around your scalp.

The neurological exam

The doctor will determine:

• Your level of consciousness. How alert are you?
• How well do your pupils react to light? The doctor will shine a light in your eyes.
• Have you lost any coordination or strength in your limbs?
• Can you speak and think normally?
• Can you walk normally, or do you often lose your balance?

The neurological exam should give your doctor a good idea of the seriousness of your injury.

Imaging tests

A hospital has several options available to create a 3D image of your brain and your injury:

• A CT scan will reveal bleeding, swelling, hematomas, brain tissue damage, and bone fractures.
• An MRI will provide an even better image of your brain, but it will take longer. An MRI is useful to detect small injuries, such as in diffuse axonal injury. Just because injuries are small doesn’t mean they aren’t serious. Diffuse axonal injury, for example, involves a multitude of small tears.
• An X-ray may be performed to check for skull fractures.

The doctor might also order blood tests, a sensor to detect intracranial pressure, or neuropsychological testing.

Do you need a personal injury lawyer?

If you or your loved one have suffered a head injury from a car accident that you suspect might be the fault of someone else, now is the time to act. Your choice of which attorney will represent you might turn out to be the most important decision in your case. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.