How to know if your headache is related to a brain injury

Perhaps it’s been weeks since you were involved in a car accident but you’re still not feeling like you’ve completely recovered. Maybe it wasn’t a motor vehicle accident that caused your injuries, but a fall at a local New Jersey mall due to no caution or warning signs that the floors were wet at the time. Not every injury is always immediately apparent following an accident.

Therefore, even if you went to a local hospital for treatment when the incident occurred, the medical professionals tending to your care may not have diagnosed all your problems. Especially if you’re suffering from headaches, you may want to research various signs of traumatic head injury and follow up with your physician if you think your current problems may have something to do with brain trauma.

Common causes and symptoms of head trauma injuries

If a week or more has gone by since you were injured, and you get a headache, you might not immediately associate your suffering with your accident. The following list provides various causes and symptoms of head trauma that may be pertinent to your particular situation:

  • Sports injuries: In recent years, you may have read or heard about one or more athletes (either professional, local or youth) who have suffered traumatic brain injuries due to blunt force trauma in sports activities. Concussion is a major risk in sports, especially those that are contact-related.
  • Falls: Whether down a flight of stairs at a shopping mall or tripping over an electrical cord in your workplace, any type of fall can result in head injury of which you might not be aware at the time.
  • Vehicular collisions: The impact of a car accident may be so severe that fatality occurs. If you have survived a car accident, you’ll want to pay close attention to your head, neck and back areas because serious bodily injuries in these parts are not always immediately apparent.
  • Physical assault: If you are the victim of a violent crime and are experiencing headaches in its aftermath, you may want to discuss the issue with your physician as well as a licensed counselor as it may be a sign of brain trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • Dizziness and other signs: If you feel confused or disoriented, are light-headed, experience room-spinning sensations or hear ringing sounds in your ears, it may be a sign that you have suffered a severe head injury.

Other symptoms would definitely warrant immediate medical attention, such as vomiting, losing consciousness or seizures. If these types of symptoms are occurring after you have been involved in any type of accident, seeking medical attention as soon as possible may be crucial to your recovery and, in some circumstances, may even save your life.

Beyond obtaining needed medical care, however, you may also be wondering how to seek legal accountability against a negligent party who caused your head injury. Many New Jersey head trauma victims turn to experienced personal injury attorneys for help in this area.