The average person has a difficult time recognizing the signs of internal injuries. People overestimate their ability to notice such injuries and can make mistakes when they or someone they know gets hurt in a serious incident, like a motor vehicle collision. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), for example, may seem easy to spot. Movies and television shows often depict brain injuries as dramatic maladies. People often immediately begin slurring their speech or bleeding from their facial orifices after hurting their brains in popular media. Although that can happen, the reality of the situation is that many people with TBIs do not manifest immediate symptoms that necessitate emergency medical intervention.
Instead, their condition slowly progresses in the days after the initial incident. After a few days or possibly a few weeks, someone has substantially worse symptoms than they did after the crash or new symptoms that didn’t exist previously. It is easy for people to overlook TBI symptoms in part because of their delayed onset and how different they can be in every case. There is one warning sign of a potential brain injury that people often downplay after a car crash.
People don’t pass out without a reason
During a motor vehicle collision, an individual might pass out or fall unconscious for just a moment or two. Other times, they might remain unconscious until someone approaches their vehicle and rouses them. All too often, individuals brush off a brief moment of unconsciousness because it seems like a minor issue. They don’t notice any other symptoms, so they assume they are fine to go about their day as normal.
However, any loss of consciousness could be a warning sign of an injury to the brain. That injury could continue to worsen for days until someone finally receives a proper medical evaluation. Any time someone loses consciousness during a car crash, they may benefit from seeing a doctor as soon as possible after filing a police report. Modern medical facilities have imaging tests that can help identify early signs of a brain injury before the symptoms reach a problematic point. Doctors can also offer treatment that can prevent someone’s symptoms from worsening.
While seeking out medical care after a crash can exacerbate the inconvenience and disruption the collision causes, foregoing care is a bigger concern. Connecting momentary unconsciousness with the potential for a brain injury may help people involved in a crash secure the care they require.