People who are involved in car accidents can suffer all sorts of injuries – from scratches to traumatic brain injury. Thankfully, most motor vehicle accidents are minor, and the people involved walk away with a few bumps and bruises. Some of our clients joke that the biggest bruise they suffered was to their ego. The problem is that a lot of accident victims refuse medical treatment at the scene. They insist they haven’t suffered any auto accident injuries at all. They may be willing to see a car accident doctor in Atlanta a few days later. But they refuse to get into the ambulance to be taken to the emergency room for immediate treatment.
Sometimes, accident victims are afraid that they’ll have to pay the thousands of dollars it costs to go to the emergency room via ambulance. Or they’re worried that insurance won’t cover their emergency room visit. That’s why it’s important that you be treated by a car accident doctor in Atlanta who can communicate with your car accident lawyer. This can help ensure that somebody covers your medical care. While that may be your primary health insurance company at first, if the other driver was at fault, their insurance carrier will ultimately have to bear the expense of your medical care.
Of all the auto accident injuries you cannot ignore, a traumatic brain injury may be the most serious. It can take hours or even days before you realize that you’ve suffered this kind of injury. Even your car accident doctor in Atlanta may not immediately recognize the signs and symptoms of your traumatic brain injury (TBI). This is why it’s so important that you see one of the doctors in our office so they can run the necessary diagnostics and confirm whether you have in fact suffered a TBI.
What Exactly is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury, or a TBI for short, is an injury that is caused by blunt force trauma to your skull. One obvious way this could happen is if somebody smashed you in the head with a baseball bat. It can also happen if you’re in a motorcycle accident and you’re thrown or ejected from the bike and land on your head. However, a TBI can also be considered a part of the auto accident injuries we treat from time to time.
If you’re sitting in the car, as the driver or the passenger, and suffer a head- on collision, there’s a good chance you could suffer a traumatic brain injury. The same is true if you’re involved in a rear-end collision and the impact is tremendous. Your head could hit the steering wheel, the dashboard, or even go through the windshield causing blunt force trauma to your head. It’s important, even as the auto accident victim, to know the signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. If you notice any of these symptoms in the hours and days after your car crash, you need to immediately make an appointment with one of our car accident doctors in Atlanta.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
The initial signs or symptoms of a traumatic brain injury are very similar to that of a concussion. You may feel nauseous or dizzy right away. Or you may not feel these symptoms until the next morning. Many clients who have a TBI suffer from extreme headaches that are so bad that it keeps them from going to sleep.
Traumatic brain injuries also can cause both short-term and long-term memory loss. You may feel ringing in your ears and have a hard time with your fine motor skills. Many people with a traumatic brain injury have blurry vision and are unable to concentrate on one thing for any given period of time. If you notice any of these things going on with yourself or a loved one who’s been involved in a recent motor vehicle accident, contact one of our car accident doctors in Atlanta immediately. Don’t wait until the next day. Don’t wait till after the weekend’s over. Because if these injuries are left untreated, things can go downhill very quickly.
What Happens if a TBI Goes Untreated by a Car Accident Doctor in Atlanta?
As stated above, if your traumatic brain injury goes untreated for a long period of time, it can cause irreversible damage. Not only will you continue to suffer from headaches and vertigo, but you’ll also suffer from memory issues going forward. If the impact was hard enough, you may also have suffered bleeding on the brain. This is something that cannot go left untreated because it can absolutely prove to be fatal. If you suffered any of these auto accident injuries, then you need to call one of our car accident doctors right away.
You Should Get Immediate Treatment for All Auto Accident Injuries
For some reason, people who have been involved in motor vehicle accidents tend to refuse to get medical treatment at the accident scene. When the police officers ask them if they’re okay, they insist that they’re fine. Just because they don’t feel like they’ve suffered an injury, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t injured. It just means that, at that given moment, they don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with them. The problem is that with most auto accident injuries, you may not feel the pain until hours or even days later. That’s why the practitioners at our treatment center in Atlanta suggest that you see a doctor immediately after your car crash.
One of the most serious auto accident injuries, as discussed above, is a traumatic brain injury. If this kind of injury goes left untreated, it can cause long term issues and can even prove to be fatal. It’s one thing to leave a broken bone untreated. Eventually, that bone will likely have to be reset and even re-broken to properly heal. Even a lot of accident victims with disc issues let them go untreated for months or even years. It’s hard for us to understand this because our car accident doctors in Atlanta know what kind of relief they can provide their clients. However, it is the accident victim’s right to choose whether to accept or decline treatment. We just hope that you at least contact an Atlanta treatment center to get an additional assessment done. That way, you at least know for sure whether there’s anything physically wrong with you.
