In the majority of cases, the victim of a concussion will be able to reach a full recovery in a matter of weeks, if not merely days. But as generally is the case, there are also exceptions. A serious enough concussion can lead to significant damage to the brain which can bring on chronic symptoms that can last long term and impact every part of the victim’s life. You might want to talk with a personal injury lawyer in Chatham, to ensure that you or a loved one is compensated.
What is a concussion?
Classified as a mild traumatic brain injury, a concussion will be a diagnosed by a doctor and generally followed up by the recommendation of taking it slow for a while. This means less physical and mental activity, which means taking time off of work until a near full recovery has been achieved.
Different patients are likely to have different experiences when it comes to symptoms and recovery time, but there is a general set of symptoms to watch out for after you have hit your head. So, if you experience any of the following after receiving trauma to the head, then you should seek out a doctor as quickly as possible:
• temporary loss of consciousness
• a steady pressure or ache in your head
• vomiting or lasting nausea
• confusion or lightheadedness
• slowed reaction time
• memory loss surrounding the traumatic event
• experiencing an ongoing ringing noise
• slurred speech
• fatigue
As is the case with most traumatic head injuries, there are also late onset symptoms which you may start to notice hours, if not days, after you sustained the concussion. These symptoms include problems with staying focused, increased irritability, signs of PTSD, depression, and anxiety, hypersensitivity to noise and light, and insomnia.
What potential long-term symptoms are connected to concussions?
In order to investigate the potential long-term effects of concussions, researchers checked in with concussion patients over a year after they originally sustained their injury. As a result, they found that nearly fifty percent of the sixty-nine patients were still suffering from after effects of their injury. And three of the patients were still unable to return to work because of the severity of their suffering.
It was therefore concluded that concussions have potential to injure brain tissue to a degree that can lead to disability, decreased life quality, and even long-term PTSD symptoms, as was the case with twelve of the patients the researchers checked in with. For some, symptoms even worsen after over a year has passed.