Tech and Science

Physical Symptoms Of A Brain Injury You Should Know

Source: The Blue Diamond Gallery

Any injury to the head should be treated with urgency.

Brain injury symptoms remain the same whether the injury was caused by a blow to the head or having a bullet or sharp object pass through brain tissue.

Whatever the cause may be, it’s extremely important to keep an eye on your injury and then record any symptoms that you may experience. This is because any kind of traumatic head injury could cause brain damage that could prove to be fatal.

Here is a list of the physical symptoms of a brain injury you must know and look for.

Are Symptoms Quick To Occur?

The signs and symptoms of a brain injury will present themselves differently in different people. For example, children will be impacted by a brain injury in a completely different way from adults.

Some adults may experience subtle physical symptoms that don’t develop until a few days after the impact, whereas others may experience symptoms immediately after the injury has been sustained.

Physical symptoms of any type of brain injury will typically last for a couple of days, however, there is potential for them to last for weeks and maybe even months!

If this is the case, and your injury has significantly impacted your quality of life, you can make a personal injury claim to seek compensation. You can visit https://www.unionlawfirm.com/new-york-injury-attorney/traumatic-brain-injuries/ to find out more about your rights during this process.

Main Physical Symptoms

If you think you might have obtained a brain injury, you should keep an eye out for the following symptoms. These will differ slightly depending on the severity of the injury.

Physical Symptoms In Children

Children will show these symptoms differently. They may not be able to communicate how they are feeling after sustaining a brain injury. If this is the case, you may notice:

  • A large change in nursing or eating habits
  • Constant crying
  • Easily irritated
  • Seizures
  • Drowsiness
  • Sadness
  • Change in sleep pattern

Mild Brain Injury In Adults

If you have a mild brain injury, you will likely experience several (or all of) the following physical symptoms:

  • Fatigue or drowsiness
  • Headache
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Blurred vision
  • Slurred speech
  • Delayed response

Moderate To Severe Brain Injury In Adults

This type of brain injury can include mild injury symptoms in addition to several other things that will typically appear in the first few hours or days after suffering a head injury. For more severe injuries, you should know about these symptoms:

  • Inability to awaken from sleep
  • Loss of coordination
  • Loss of consciousness lasting a couple of minutes to hours
  • A persistent headache
  • Repeated instances of nausea or vomiting
  • Seizures or convulsions
  • Dilation of your pupils
  • Clear fluid coming from the ear or nose
  • Numbness or weakness in fingers and toes

Seeking Medical Attention

You should see a doctor within 48 hours if you’ve experienced any type of head injury, especially if you’re experiencing confusion, disorientation, and a loss of consciousness.
If you are worried about your own injury or another adult who has sustained a head injury, make sure to seek immediate advice from a doctor. This is because serious head injuries can sometimes disguise themselves as a simple headache.

Once you have had the medical attention you need, you can then think about starting to get compensation. That will of course mean getting in touch with a personal injury lawyer, who will be able to guide you as to how to achieve this. All in all, that is a really useful way to make sure that you are able to move on from the situation at hand.

Remember: it’s always best to seek emergency care to rule out anything more serious!

Note that if your child isn’t demonstrating signs of a significant brain injury and they are acting normal, their injury is likely to be quite mild. This means they won’t need further testing.

How Are These Injuries Diagnosed?

A medical professional can assess your injury and get you the right kind of treatment depending on the severity of the injury.

You’ll need to inform your doctor about the circumstances of your injury. You should try to bring someone with you so that your doctor can determine whether you lost consciousness and if so, for how long.

Your doctor will examine for outward signs of trauma including swelling and bruising, and will likely also send you for a neurological examination.

Any injuries will then be diagnosed via a CT or an MRI scan. These are accurate and fast ways to diagnose significant brain injuries and will be able to identify evidence of clotting or bleeding, fractures, and brain swelling.

Summary

These are the key physical symptoms of a brain injury that you must know about. If you have suffered any type of blow to the head you must seek immediate medical attention to rule out anything extremely serious.

Tags

About the author

Saman Iqbal

Saman is a law student. She enjoys writing about tech, politics and the world in general. She's an avid reader and writes fictional prose in her free time.







Daily Newsletter