Long-term Effects of TBI - Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

An individual suffering a TBI can show short-term symptoms such as blurry vision or dizziness, which can be treated with short term hospitalization and rehabilitation. Severe TBIs can cause loss of consciousness and comatose state (usually graded for severity by the Glasgow Coma scale). While short-term effects of TBI’s can generally be easily diagnosed and treated thanks to the advances in medical science, anticipating long-term effects and their consequences is still a difficult task. This is mainly due to the fact that long-term effects can manifest weeks, months, years, and even decades after the injury has occurred.

Nevertheless, medical science has enabled doctors to understand certain common TBI related effects. TBI patients should get immediate care and the caretakers should keep in mind that long-term effects can set in. Even while filing a claim for compensation, they should keep a margin for potential long-term effects that can affect a TBI victim. In this post, our Willens personal injury lawyer Chicago will discuss the some of the long term effects of TBIs.

Long-term Effects of TBI

Every individual’s injuries are different and the effects of those injuries manifest in different ways. According to the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the factors that determine the effects of a TBI are –

• How severe the initial injury was
• The rate of physiological healing and the completeness of the healing
• The functions that get affected due to the injury
• Extent and value of the dysfunction brought about by the injury with respect to the individuals goals, values and role
• Resources and therapies available for treatment and recovery

Despite these, it is often difficult to understand and predict what long-term effects can occur. Medical practitioners and care givers can only address the long-term effects once the injured recovers from the initial injuries and their effects.

While certain physical damages and disabilities can take a long time for recovery, the following are other cognitive challenges that can surface as long-term consequences.

Cognition and Thinking

Thinking and cognitive disabilities are the most common long-term effects of a TBI. Executive functions like complex processing of large amounts of detailed information gets compromised and victims find it difficult to do tasks like keeping track of time, coordination of complex events, planning and making decisions, routine tasks become difficult to accomplish, and problem solving skills are affected.

Behavior and Mood

TBI’s can result in subtle or substantial alteration in a person’s personality, changing the way the individual behaves. Irritability, lack of inhibition, excessive inhibition, aggressiveness, and docile behavior can be changes that can affect the injured. Essentially, behavior and mood changes affect an individual’s ability to appropriately fit in a social situation, causing emotional stress for the victim, family members as well those around the victim.

Sensory Changes

TBI’s can also affect sensory functions like vision, sense of smell, taste, hearing and touch as all of these senses are routed through the brain. Sensitivity to a particular smell or changes in tastes of food are some examples. Seizures are another potential long-term effect of TBI’s.

All these factors should be considered when filing a claim, especially when the injury is resultant of another person’s negligence. Contact a Chicago traumatic brain injury lawyer to get help with your accident claim and ensure your legal rights are protected. Call (312) 957-4166 to speak with and experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer at Willens Law Offices.