National Brain Injury Awareness Month

Waukegan Personal Injury Attorney

March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month. During this month, we focus on the impact that brain injuries can have in their victims and educate ourselves and others about ways we can reduce the number of these injuries that occur. Although there is no way to completely eliminate the risk of brain injuries, there are many ways to take precautions to reduce them. Even when brain injuries do occur, knowing how to recognize and treat them in a timely manner can improve victims' chances of making full recoveries.

Brain injuries can result from any type of accident. Car accidents, sports accidents, falls, and even assaults can result in brain injuries for victims. Any time the head suffers an impact with another object, the brain can suffer an injury. This is true even when there are no apparent cuts, bruises, or other physical signs of impact on the victim's head.

What to Do if a Brain Injury Occurs

It can be impossible to know if a brain injury occurred at the time of an accident. This is why it is critical that you seek medical attention as soon as possible to have a doctor confirm whether you have suffered a brain injury. This is especially true with concussions and other mild traumatic brain injuries, which do not have obvious symptoms. With more severe traumatic brain injuries, the victim might lose consciousness or display other significant symptoms, making it easier for others to recognize that he or she needs immediate medical attention.

If you have been diagnosed with a brain injury, follow your doctor's instructions for your treatment and recovery. The only way to treat a concussion is for the victim to abstain from any mentally-exhausting work. This includes actual labor as well as mentally-strenuous recreational activities, like playing video games and reading. With a mild brain injury, the victim generally returns to his or her normal routine gradually, under the doctor's supervision.

For more severe brain injuries, medication, surgery, and rehabilitation might be needed in order for the victim to make a full recovery. Sometimes, the damage to the victim's brain is severe to the point that he or she must relearn how to walk, speak, and perform routine tasks. This can take months of rehabilitative therapy or longer. In some cases, the victim can never work again.

When to Contact an Illinois Personal Injury Attorney

If you suffered any type of injury in an accident, the right time to contact an attorney about filing a personal injury claim is after you have received appropriate medical care. Always put your health first by seeking medical attention as soon as you can after your accident. Not only will receiving timely medical care improve your chance of making a full recovery, it will aid you in the personal injury claim process by providing proof that you are serious about your recovery. You will have a much more difficult time recovering compensation if your record shows that you waited weeks or months after your accident to seek medical care.

Working with an attorney will greatly improve your chance of recovering an adequate settlement amount. When you seek monetary compensation through a personal injury claim, you can seek compensation for your medical bills and related expenses, your lost wages as a result of having to leave work to recover, and miscellaneous expenses like mobility aids. This final category is known as “pain and suffering,” and it can also include compensation for your reduced quality of life as a result of the injury.

Tips for Handling a Brain Injury

If you are suffering from a brain injury, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it is okay to ask others for help. Routine tasks like cooking and running errands can become much more difficult if you have a brain injury. Ask your loved ones to help you with these tasks if you need the help.

If somebody in your household is recovering from a brain injury, be patient with him or her. Brain injuries can cause an individual to behave unlike his or her normal self, and he or she might become irritable, forgetful, confused easily, or depressed. Offer to help your loved one and if you feel yourself becoming frustrated with him or her, remember that he or she is recovering from an injury and will not be this way forever. Treat your loved one with compassion and be willing to take on extra tasks around the house to compensate for the loss of his or her ability to perform chores.

Work with a Waukegan Personal Injury Attorney

If you have suffered from a brain injury, speak with an experienced Waukegan personal injury attorney to learn more about whether you have grounds for a personal injury claim and if so, the next steps you need to take to pursue your claim. Contact our team at Salvi & Maher, LLP today to schedule your initial legal consultation with us. We are here to help you seek the money you deserve for your damages as you recover from your brain injury.