What Can Cause a Traumatic Brain Injury?

What Can Cause a Traumatic Brain Injury?

In 2020 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a total of 214,110 hospitalizations for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Although many people are familiar with concussions from sports and recreational injuries, concussions are just one, typically mild type of TBI.

The truth is that there are several ways that your brain can suffer trauma, and each one can have long-lasting consequences. Understanding the various ways you or a loved one could suffer a TBI following an accident is essential for Georgia residents. 

4 Common Ways You Can Suffer Brain Trauma

Your skull and the fluid inside it protect your brain from everyday bumps and bruises. However, given enough force, your brain can suffer severe trauma despite this protection. Four common ways your brain can sustain injury in Georgia include: 

1. Blunt Force Trauma

An object hitting your head or your head making contact with a stationary object can inflict blunt force trauma to your brain. Such trauma is often localized to the site of the impact. Even small amounts of blunt force trauma repeated over time — such as what football players and other athletes experience — can lead to lasting brain trauma.

2. Piercing Brain Injuries

The brain can be directly injured in a piercing injury accident in which a sharp object penetrates the skull and directly injures the brain. These injuries are often the result of traumatic accidents like severe motor vehicle crashes, construction site accidents, and acts of violence.

3. Hypoxic or Anoxic Brain Trauma

A hypoxic brain injury is one in which the brain does not receive a sufficient supply of oxygen. In contrast, an anoxic injury is one where the brain’s oxygen supply is completely cut off. Either situation can be devastating and life-threatening. Without oxygen, your brain cells can die in as little as four minutes. 

Drownings are the most common situations that lead to anoxic brain injuries, but anesthesia errors can also interrupt the flow of oxygen to your brain and cause damage.

4. Diffuse Axonal Injuries

Your brain uses long fibers called axons to transmit electrical and other signals. When these axons are damaged, your brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of your body is impacted. A diffuse axonal injury occurs when your axons are damaged by your brain moving and shifting around inside your skull.

If you are involved in a car accident, you can experience whiplash, which is the rapid back-and-forth movement of your head and neck when your car collides with another object. This is the sort of movement that can lead to a diffuse axonal injury.

Steps to Take Following a Traumatic Brain Injury

Your prognosis following a head injury depends on several factors, including getting timely treatment. Therefore, if you believe you may have hurt your head, it is vital to seek prompt medical care. 

An experienced Atlanta catastrophic injury lawyer can help you secure compensation for your bills and financial losses if another person causes your TBI.