Brain Injury Awareness Month March

It’s March – Brain Injury Awareness Month. It’s the time of year when many of us are hitting the highway for a spring break road trip or to visit grandparents for Easter. Which is why the timing is so perfect for Brain Injury Awareness Month. You may not know it, but car accidents are among the leading causes of traumatic brain injuries or TBI. Much has been made of sports-related concussions in the press recently, particularly since the release of the new Will Smith movie on that exact topic. But the risk of a TBI in a car accident, rather than on the soccer or football field, are much higher.

Traumatic Brain Injury After a Car Accident

Car crashes are responsible for 17 percent of all the TBI recorded in the United States – second only to falls. The Centers for Disease Control estimate there are nearly 300,000 instances of TBI caused by car wrecks each year. Some of these injuries are caused by direct blows to the head – hitting your head on the steering wheel in an accident, for instance – but others occur without contact to a surface at all. The simple act of whiplash can be enough to cause your brain to rapidly accelerate and then decelerate, causing shakes and rotations inside the skull. Such injuries are harder to diagnose but can pose many of the same problems as your average concussion might.

A TBI Can Be Fatal

Survivors may initially experience seizures, double vision, headache, and fatigue. Long term effects can be felt years after the injury occurred. Survivors may have trouble with their memories and experience anxiety, depression and mood swings. TBI is often referred to as an invisible illness because the outside world would never know about your injuries by looking at you. Unlike a broken leg which might garner instant sympathy, TBI remains in the shadows until the survivor decides to divulge it.

Brain Injury Awareness

This Brain Injury Awareness Month, tell your friends and family about the dangers of TBI and about how to prevent such injuries. By spreading the word on this “invisible” condition, we can better care for those affected by it. So much about the brain and how it is affected by injury is still being researched. As this field continues to grow, we’ll learn more and more about how our brains function – and how to treat those with TBI. So while Brain Injury Awareness Month might initially seem arbitrary, it is, in fact, a hugely important issue that can use any attention it can get.

Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

If you or a loved one are suffering from a brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence, we encourage you to speak with our Virginia brain injury attorneys. Failing to hire an experienced brain injury lawyer right away can be a big mistake. There are important steps which can be taken– together with crucial evidence concerning both legal rights and the nature and extent of brain injury.  Setup a free consultation today 877-544-5323