The fear of involvement in a car accident can plague many Minnesota residents, you included. Though some people may think of such fear as irrational, car crashes occur every day, and many of those incidents result in individuals suffering serious injuries. If you find yourself involved in a collision, you could easily suffer from a severe head injury that has significant impacts on your life.
Head injuries can come in many forms, and in many cases, your brain could suffer damage as well. The type of injury you suffer could depend on a variety of factors, and each type of head injury could have different outcomes as far as impacts on your overall health and abilities.
Open head injury
When an injury falls into the open head injury category, it likely involves some type of skull fracturing. Some types of open head injuries include:
- Compound skull fracture - Your scalp suffers from an open wound and your skull suffers a fracture
- Depressed skull fracture - The fractured portion of the skull depresses toward the brain
- Basilarskull fracture - The area of your skull at the base of your neck suffers a fracture, which could result in nerve damage and blood vessel damage.
- Battle's sign - With this type of injury, the fracture occurs near the ear, and you could suffer damage to your nerves resulting in hearing impairment.
- Raccooneyes - When a fracture occurs to the portion of your skull surrounding the frontal lobes of your brain, you could develop bruise-like markings around your eyes. Additionally, nerves relating to your sense of smell and eye functions could suffer damage.
Depending on the severity of the fracture, the amount of damage that occurs could vary. In worst cases, loss of much-needed abilities or even death could occur.
Closed head injuries
Some individuals may think that, because a head injury does not produce immediate visible signs of trauma, it is less serious than an open head injury. However, closed head injuries could result in brain swelling and increased pressure inside the skull. This swelling could also lead to nerve damage as the brain attempts to expand through any openings in the skull.
Injury as a result of a car accident
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 14.3 percent of traumatic brain injuries occur due to car accidents. If you have suffered a serious brain injury due to a crash caused by the negligence of another driver, you may have reason to seek compensation. Information on personal injury claims may prove beneficial to you.