About Traumatic Brain Injury

There are two general classifications of traumatic brain injury:

• Closed head injury: The head injury may appear insignificant, possibly just a bump, blow, or sharp head jerk. But, even in these cases the brain may be jostled enough to cause bleeding or swelling.
• Open head injury: In an open head injury, the brain sustains penetrating trauma.

Epilepsy After a Traumatic Brain Injury

Epilepsy may develop after some traumatic brain injuries. Post-traumatic epilepsy is most likely to occur following an open head injury, but occasionally it can follow a closed head injury. People whose seizures develop some time after the injury have a greater likelihood of developing epilepsy.

Epileptic partial seizures may show up months or years after the head injury. A simple partial seizure is when a small part of the brain experiences a localized, abnormal electrical discharge. Symptoms of a simple partial seizure include smelling a foul odor, seeing flashing lights, feeling tingly, and/or hearing voices.

A complex partial seizure, also called a temporal lobe seizure, will present with a change in level of consciousness, without loss of consciousness. The individual may become disoriented, hear things, behave strangely, grate teeth, fidget, and/or become restless. This can be followed by extreme confusion and limited recall of the episode.

A grand mal seizure, also known as a tonic-clonic seizure, features a loss of consciousness and muscular twitching and jerking. It is the result of abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain. This type of seizure following a head trauma is usually a one-time event rather than a chronic problem.

Statistics on Epilepsy Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Following are some disturbing statistics on the development of epilepsy following a traumatic brain injury diagnosis.

• Someone who has suffered a head trauma is twelve times more likely to suffer seizures than the general population.
• Approximately 60% of individuals who sustained head injury developed epilepsy within the first twelve months following the injury.
• 30% of all individuals suffering head trauma developed post-traumatic seizures. More than 75% of the time the seizures occur within the first 24-months.

Minnesota Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer & Attorney

Brain cells do not regenerate. However, in some cases, other areas of the brain compensate for the injured tissue, rerouting information and function around the damaged areas. Recovery from a traumatic brain injury can be a prolonged or life-long process of treatment and rehabilitation.

It is imperative to retain a traumatic brain injury lawyer with extensive experience in order to receive the necessary compensation to cover current and future medical expenses, as well as lost income and other damages.

TSR Injury Law has handled hundreds of traumatic brain injury cases. We have developed an expertise in this area. Our partners are frequently asked to speak on the topic and Partner Rich Ruohonen has written and published an article on the myths of traumatic brain injury. Call us today at 612-362-0000. We are ready to help you on the road to physical and financial recovery.

Guy’s core philosophy that every client is somebody’s mother or father, son or daughter, distinguishes him from many other personal injury lawyers who lose sight of the personal loss suffered by clients. Every personal injury case involves a person, and Guy truly understands that to his clients – his or her case is the only one that matters. Guy’s experience includes auto accident claims, dog bites, wrongful death claims, premise liability claims, and other catastrophic injury claims.

Born and raised in a small Minnesota town, Guy went on to receive his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2001. Shorty thereafter, Guy was fortunate to spend time teaching the English language in Prague, embracing the unique and proud culture of Czech Republic. After returning to Minnesota, Guy began working as a law clerk at a well known personal injury law firm. Guy then attended Hamline University School of Law where he received his Juris Doctorate.

Guy and his wife raise their two kids in Saint Paul. When finding time away from the office, Guy enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, listening to new music, and planning trips for his ongoing quest to reach the highest point in every American state (7 down, 43 to go).

For years the league has minimized or denied statistics compiled by others showing a high percentage of former players, who sustained repetitive concussions, suffered some type of brain deterioration. The league finally commissioned a study on concussions and the data revealed that football players as young as 30 were 19 times more likely to be diagnosed with a memory disorder or dementia than the national average. Players over 50 were diagnosed with dementia-related illness at a rate of 5 times the national average.

Professional football players realize that the game is tough and that they may be injured. The players have also trusted that team doctors would accurately assess their ability to play — and bench them if warranted. When a player sustains a knee injury, they are out for weeks. When a player gets a concussion, sometimes they are out only one series of downs.

The brain is in many ways more fragile than other parts of the body. It does not heal like a fracture. All of these studies are showing the cumulative nature of concussions. The treatment of concussions needs to be modified.

News Report on Concussions and Professional Football

There is another study, by Dr. Bennet Omalu, forensic pathologist and neuropathologist in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in which another type of brain injury was identified. Dr. Omalu named it Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. Omalu examined the brains of five former professional football players. Repeated concussions and sub-concussions (”build-up” effect from repeated blows to the head) incurred during the play of football over a long period can result in CTE. The brain changes in CTE include scarring of brain tissue, damage to cerebral blood vessels, and torn microfibers.

The bottom line is that professional players have to be more in tune with their health. In younger players, parents need to be more proactive on behalf on their children.

As time goes by, statistics will continue to support that brain injuries occur in contact sport participants and that the injuries can be compounded. What if you add a car accident to an old football injury or vice versa — the effects multiply.

What needs to change? Helmets? Treatment? Rules? Many people do talk about the possibilities that helmets increase the brain damage because they give players a false sense of security. There are new designs in helmets to reduce concussions. The new helmets are expensive and professional teams have not been willing to pay for them until there is more data to support that they really do reduce the number of concussions.

This information is provided as service of TSR Injury Law, a personal injury law firm serving Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and the state of Minnesota. Our attorneys have extensive experience handling traumatic brain injury cases. Call 612-362-0000 for more information or contact a Minnesota Brain Injury Lawyer.