Brain Injury
Every year more than 150,000 people in the UK suffer brain damage as a result of a head injury.
The effects of brain damage can be physical and psychological. Sometimes the changes are minor, other times they can be distressing and often life changing for the individual, family and close friends.
The law associated with brain injury litigation is highly specialised. As well as expert legal knowledge it requires first class accident investigation, medical support and value analysis.
At Serious Injury we ensure that experienced professionals support all aspects of your claim. We understand that compensation is essential to provide a suitable quality of life for those affected by brain injury but we also know that this is not always enough.
Rehabilitation is critically important in such cases and we believe our role does not end in court but extends to helping our clients with the rehabilitation process by providing access to all the necessary support groups needed in adjusting to living with a brain injury.
Brain Injury Week
Each year, nearly 90,000 children aged 5-11 will suffer a head injury.
The Look After Your Head Campaign is endorsed by The British
Medical Association, and supported by Rees Jeffreys Road Fund, The Royal
Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust,
and Creativity International.
The Brain
The brain consists of billions of microscopic nerve cells that control all human activity, including emotions, thinking, action and movement. These nerve cells altogether form a fragile mass, the brain, which sits inside the skull. The brain is protected by the skull, and also by a cushion of fluid called cerebrospinal fluid.
Trauma to the head can result in a direct impact injury and/or cause the brain to shake around inside the skull. Depending on the degree and direction of the forces applied, the brain can be damaged in many different ways. This is often referred to as a "diffuse" brain injury.
There are three main areas of the brain, the brainstem, forefront and rear. The brainstem is the most crucial part of the brain as it controls your basic vital functions such as regulation of breathing, swallowing, heart rate and body temperature. Often if there is brainstem damage, the long-term prognosis for recovery is poor. The rear part of the brain is responsible for vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Finally, the front of the brain is responsible for coordinating all of this information and making decisions to do things.
What are the symptoms of a brain injury?
The brain is extremely complex and each person’s response to brain injury can be different. Recovery will depend on many factors, including the extent of injury, pre-injury personality and learning style, abilities prior to injury, age and amount of time that has passed since the injury occurred.
Symptoms of a brain injury can include:
• Cognitive impairments – short or long term memory problems, concentration difficulties, slow thinking, limited attention span, impairments of perception, communication, reading and writing skills, planning, sequencing, and judgment. These problems may not be immediately apparent, but may become obvious when attempting to complete a simple task, which requires higher level functioning.
• Physical impairments – speech, vision, hearing and other sensory deficiencies, headaches, spasticity of muscles, paralysis of one or both sides, epilepsy, balance problems, and other walking difficulties.
• Psychosocial behavioural emotional problems - fatigue, mood swings, denial, anxiety, depression, lowered self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, restlessness, lack of motivation, unstable emotions, inability to cope, agitation, excessive laughing or crying, and difficulty relating to others.
