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Brain injuries account for 1.9% of emergency care visits and hospitalizations in the United States.
They result from motor vehicle accidents, falls, assaults, and other causes. A Charleston brain injury lawyer can help you claim compensation.
Brain Injury Attorney Charleston, SC
Shealey Law Firm is a brain injury attorney serving Charleston, SC. If you have sustained brain trauma, you may qualify to receive monetary compensation.
To see what your case may be worth and how a brain injury attorney can help you, contact our Charleston, SC attorneys for your consultation.
Understanding Brain Injuries: Types, Symptoms, and Long-Term Effects
A brain injury is traumatic harm to the brain. It is sudden trauma, caused by force, rather than a medical or degenerative condition. Brain injury interferes with, or threatens normal brain function.
Types of Brain Injuries
Penetrating Injury – An object penetrates the brain. The injury may damage brain matter, fracture the skull, and cause bleeding.
Bleeding – A brain bleed is also called a hematoma. Bleeding can occur in brain tissue or between the brain and skull. Brain bleeding can be life-threatening. It may cause weakness, facial paralysis, nausea, coma, impaired vision, and other symptoms.
Bruising – Like other soft tissue, the brain can be bruised. Bruising is internal bleeding; it can occur at the location of traumatic impact or on the opposite side of the blow.
Concussion – Concussion is the disruption of brain function because of traumatic force. Rapid movement of the brain can disrupt consciousness, memory, thinking, balance, and other important processes.
Fracture – A skull is made up of human bones. Brain trauma may fracture the skull, and the skull can break with or without visible skin damage. The break may be linear, or the bone may crush or splinter.
Oxygen deprivation is not a traumatic brain injury, but it is physical trauma that threatens brain function. Hypoxic and anoxic brain injury can result from strangulation, electric shock, poisoning, or smoke inhalation.
Symptoms of Brain Injury
Symptoms of brain injury vary significantly. A person may experience:
- Loss of consciousness
- Respiratory distress
- Sensory abnormalities including hearing, sensitivity to light, and blurred vision
- Dizziness, loss of balance, poor coordination
- Visible bleeding, bumps, or bruises
- Emotional disturbances and abnormalities
- Headache
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Memory and thinking problems
- Seizure
- Communication changes, such as slurred speech
- Inability to do routine tasks
Sometimes, symptoms are subtle. For example, a person may have blurred vision. There may not be anything wrong with their eyes, but they may have a brain injury.
Long-term Effects of Brain Injury
Brain injury can impact a person in the long term, which may result in cognitive impairment. The person may no longer receive and process information like before. They may not be able to speak, write, or tend to personal care needs.
Long-term physical symptoms may include headaches, vision disruption, dizziness, seizures, and light sensitivity. Disruptions in balance may occur.
A person may experience anger, irritability, and sudden mood changes.
Because brain injuries vary in their nature and severity, the long-term effects of brain injury vary, too. The prognosis for recovery may be uncertain at the time of injury.
How a Charleston Brain Injury Lawyer Can Help You Pursue Compensation
A brain injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation. A lawyer can help in many ways, including:
- Proving the right to compensation.
- Gathering medical evidence.
- Showing how the brain injury resulted from the accident.
- Refuting claims of comparative negligence.
- Valuing the cost of medical care including future care.
- Including personal care as part of the claim.
- Ensuring the claim is complete, and damages are thorough.
- Exploring options for structuring compensation to protect the award.
- Negotiating settlement.
- Explain the options to resolve your case.
With a lawyer, you have an experienced professional to represent you. A lawyer can answer your questions and offer guidance.
The Importance of Immediate and Ongoing Medical Care for Brain Injury Victims
If you suffer a brain injury from a personal injury, medical care is important. This is true when an injury occurs, and it’s true continuously. Medical care reduces the risk of secondary trauma; it can help the person rehabilitate to the extent possible.
Of course, ongoing medical care comes with a cost. Identifying future needs is an important part of a legal claim. A lawyer can ensure the case is complete.
Types of Damages Recoverable in a Brain Injury Case
Damages recoverable in a brain injury case include:
- Emergency medical care, stabilization
- Mobility devices and communication support
- Physical therapy, occupational therapy
- Lost income, career damage
- Personal care expenses, nursing care
- Embarrassment, loss of social standing
- Loss of independence
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of mental and physical function
- Mental anguish, mental injury
Economic and non-economic damages can be claimed. Because of the severe personal impact of brain trauma, non-economic damages deserve significant consideration.
Consultation with a Charleston Brain Injury Lawyer
Shealey Law Firm handles personal injury claims. If you or a loved one has been hurt, we invite you to have a consultation with a Charleston brain injury lawyer. You may deserve compensation. A lawyer may represent you. We’re taking new cases. Contact us now.