Concussions are one of the most common injuries motorists sustain in car crashes. According to esteemed Orange County auto accident lawyers, Easton & Easton, and research from 2007 to 2013, traumatic brain injury (TBI) from car accidents ranked as a leading cause for both fatalities and serious injuries, even while on a slight decline.
The short-term effects on the body following a concussion can be quite devastating, and may include frequent headaches, confusion, fatigues, lack of coordination, trouble sleeping, and excessive sleepiness (among a host of other symptoms). Though these symptoms may resolve themselves in some cases, there are other cases where the effects from a concussion are longer term.
Even in cases where symptoms appear to have receded, the body may not be completely healed, which begs the question of how individuals should grapple with the long lasting effects of head trauma. We’ll be exploring this topic today, and examining how you should deal with the potentially life-altering effects of car wreck induced concussions.
Long Lasting Effects Of Concussion
For the most part, the realm of study surrounding the longer-term effects of concussions has centered on the arena of sport, where athletes are subjected to repeated head trauma over long periods of time. For these individuals, there may be a risk for negative effects lasting years beyond the conclusion of immediate concussion symptoms.
According to Dr. Maryse Lassonde, who conducted research on the Montreal Candiens hockey team who had suffered from concussions, “there is abnormal brain wave activity for years after a concussion, as well partial wasting away of the motor pathways.” Furthermore, research has found that “older athletes who suffered from concussions may have symptoms similar to Parkinson’s.”
These are serious findings, and enough to give pause to anyone who has ever experienced a concussion. According to Piedmont neurologist Dr. Jeffrey English, however, “there is no scientific evidence that a simple concussion has long-term side effects” for non-pro athletes.
For most normal people, the effects of a concussion will resolve within two or three weeks, with “no known long-term health consequences.” This comes with the caveat, though, that the brain is given proper time to heal before it is reinjured. “There is evidence that if you have another brain injury when you haven’t recovered from a concussion, the recovery can be very prolonged and possibly result in long-term deficits,” according to Dr. English.
This means that if concussion symptoms do not go away, or if they get worse, there’s a possibility you have re-injured your brain, which will require additional medical care. If you find that your concussion symptoms have not gone away after your car accident, you should see a specialist in traumatic brain injury, who can then identify the problem and develop a treatment plan to help restore proper cognitive function and mitigate the possibility of future impairment.