Car accidents are one of the leading causes of injury and death worldwide, including in the U.S. In America alone, injuries that required medical treatment after a car accident totaled around 5.2 million in 2022.
Some of the most common injuries sustained during a car accident are spinal cord damage, internal bleeding, burns, whiplash, and head injuries. Injuries like this, especially a head injury, can cause lifelong health issues. If you suffer a head injury, it can impact your quality of life for many years or throughout your lifetime.
Why Head Injuries Are So Dangerous
Your brain is the most complex part of your body. Your skull protects it and gets washed by protective fluid. Even though it weighs a mere three pounds, your brain controls your behavior, allows you to move your extremities, and interprets your senses. It is at the center of everything you do.
If your head is injured in a car accident, your skull may be shattered in one place. This can cause what is known as a traumatic brain injury. Mild injuries to the brain typically only affect its cells temporarily. However, when the injury is severe, it can cause brain bruising, torn tissue, a brain bleed, and other damage.
This damage is what causes long-term complications or even death.
Health Issues Caused by Head Injuries
Head injuries come with a list of complications and health issues. If you suffered even a mild head injury, you could experience chronic pain for years after your accident. This pain typically presents itself in the form of headaches and neck pain. Dizziness is also a common complaint after a head injury.
Chronic pain and dizziness can severely impact your daily life and your ability to work. If you lose your job, you will likely be unable to pay for medical treatment to keep these symptoms in check. This is just one of the snowballing aftereffects of a head or brain injury.
Moreover, a head injury that affects the brain can leave you with a rapid cognitive decline. You may experience memory loss, a lack of concentration, and little attention span. If you are an academic or professional, this would devastate your career.
Sometimes, head injuries cause mood changes. Their effect on the brain causes feelings of irritability, anxiety, and depression. Personality changes after a head injury are also quite common. You may feel like isolating yourself from friends and family. You may also find it difficult to manage or control overwhelming emotions.
Head injuries after an accident have also been linked to insomnia or excessive fatigue. Both of these conditions can severely affect your day-to-day life.
The more serious complications of head injuries include seizures. Unfortunately, a severe head injury can increase your risk of developing epilepsy, which can become a debilitating condition. You will also need to take medication for it for the rest of your life.
Research suggests that head injuries bring an increased risk of developing dementia later in life, including the much-feared Alzheimer’s disease.
This list is not exhaustive. The severity and type of health complications after a head injury often depend on the nature of the injury. It also depends on the area of the brain affected, age, and pre-existing health issues.
Other Injuries That Can Cause Lifelong Health Problems
Head or brain injuries are not the only types of injuries that can cause long-term health issues. When other parts of your body sustain severe damage in a car accident, you may experience different symptoms and conditions.
For example, if your spinal cord is damaged or severed, it can lead to permanent paralysis. With paralysis comes permanent loss of sensation and potential bladder and bowel control issues.
Paralysis is a completely life-altering condition that requires life-long medical care and ongoing rehabilitation.
If you suffer broken bones or soft tissue injuries, you may suffer from chronic joint pain or limited mobility. While not on the scale of paralysis, these types of injuries can cause health problems for the rest of your life.
Organ damage is another type of injury to consider. A high-impact car accident can lead to kidney, spleen, and liver rupture or bruising.
What to Do After a Serious Car Accident
If you are involved in a serious car accident, your safety and the safety of others must take priority. You mustn't move if you are seriously injured. Try to call 911 or ask someone to phone on your behalf. While you wait for emergency responders to arrive, try to stay as still and calm as possible.
If you panic and start moving around, you will worsen your existing injuries. When the EMTs arrive, they will assess your injuries and transport you to the nearest ER.
Contacting a Lawyer
If it becomes clear that you suffered a catastrophic injury that will leave you with long-term complications, it is time to contact a lawyer. A lawyer will assess your case and review your medical records. They will help you build a strong compensation case, especially if you have no part in causing the accident.
The Road to Recovery
Being severely injured in a car accident is a devastating experience. You will have to adapt to a new way of life while trying to work through the legal process of claiming compensation.
Connecting with a healthcare team that can provide care for as long as you need it is crucial. Depending on the injuries you sustained, you may also need to join a rehabilitation program to help you regain some mobility and strength. This will improve your overall well-being after an accident.
Financial planning should be one of your main strategies going forward, especially if your personal injury case drags on. Explore options like disability insurance to cover your most immediate expenses.
You should also consider joining a support group that can help you through this difficult time and provide you with additional resources.
Getting Used To a New Normal
As cliched as the phrase may be, serious injuries often mean a new normal. You will have to accept that your injuries limit what you can do. Educating yourself about your long-term health conditions and working with your doctors to make things easier for yourself is important.
By taking control of your life after a serious car accident, you can adapt to a new way of doing things and still enjoy life.
