When you or a family member survives a major car accident, you feel like you have witnessed a miracle.  There may have been a slight blow to the head during the crash, but it seemed minor, so you didn’t pursue medical treatment.  That is one of the worst things you can do.

According to medical experts, what appears to be a minor head injury that does not cause immediate pain or symptoms can end up being a life-threatening brain injury.  In California, brain injury cases are common, and some of these instances take a turn for the worst, resulting in life-altering complications.

Dr. Carmelo Graffagnino, director of Duke University Medical Center’s Neuroscience Critical Care Unit, said that it is quite common for a person who has been in an auto accident or had a fall to appear perfectly lucid just after the impact, but his or her condition can then suddenly, rapidly deteriorate.  He also said that “a patient can appear so deceivingly normal at first, but they actually have a brain bleed and as the pressure builds up, they’ll experience classic symptoms of a traumatic brain injury.”

These types of brain injuries, which can result from a serious Los Angeles car accident, fall or other event, are known as epidural hemorrhage.  According to the CNN article, “’Minor’ Head Injuries Can Turn Serious, Rapidly, Experts Say,” the problem occurs when “blood gets trapped between the skull and the hard layer of skin between the bone and brain, known as the dura mater.  As the blood flows from the ruptured artery, the fluid builds and punctures the dura.”

Accident victims are often unaware that they have fractured their skulls.  Pressure can be placed on the brain, causing swelling and ultimately reducing blood flow to the brain.  As the condition worsens, the patient will start to experience symptoms, but it is often too late.  Doctors refer to this brain injury as “talk and die” syndrome.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident and has sustained a brain injury, contact a California brain injury attorney at Steinberg Injury Lawyers at (800) 989-6385 for legal advice.  You could be entitled to compensation.
Peter Steinberg
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Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Since 1982