Brain Injury Lawyers, Head Trauma Attorneys - Portland, Bangor, Lewiston & Auburn, Maine

How Do I Know if I Have a Head Injury?

After an accident, a traumatic brain injury is not always obvious to the victim or their family. A factor that makes brain injuries so complicated is that they can occur within the deep recesses of the brain and are not immediately obvious, even to health care professionals. Deficits may not become apparent until later when complex tasks are undertaken. The personal injury lawyers at Hardy Wolf & Downing, are intimately familiar with this problem and have decades of experience in proving injury weeks after the fact.

For example, you are rear-ended in a car accident and you walk away from it saying you just had a "little whip lash". You do not receive an MRI, CT-Scan or other diagnostic tests because you are seemingly healthy. However, you notice a week later that you are experiencing headaches, forgetfulness and are fatigued all the time. Your family members or co-workers may comment that you are showing unusual mood swings and your work is becoming affected. Unbeknownst to you and your family, you may have incurred a serious closed head injury that has the potential to have devastating consequences to your life. Harding, Wolf & Downing's specialized brain injury lawyers are not only concerned for your wellbeing, but want to make sure you get the treatment you need to make a full recovery.

Common symptoms of brain injury include but are not limited to:

Difficulty focusing
Fatigue
Forgetfulness
Headaches
Impaired judgment
Learning difficulties
Personality changes including impulsive or violent behavior
Problems with organization
Restlessness/problems with sleep

In addition to the injured party, countless others can be affected. It can be stressful and confusing for family members and friends to adjust to the personality and cognitive changes which may result from the brain injury.

The treatment options can be expensive. If you believe your injury may have been caused by the negligence of others, you may be entitled to compensation under the law, and should contact the Maine accident lawyers at Wolf, Hardy & Downing immediately.

The statistics regarding Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are sobering:

Every 15 seconds, someone in the US will sustain a TBI.
Of the approximately 1.5 million TBI’s per year, 50,000 will die, 235,000 will be hospitalized, and more than 80,000 will be left with life-long disabilities.
1.1 million people with TBI are treated and released from an emergency department each year.
Males are about 1.5 times more likely to sustain a TBI than females.
The two highest-risk age groups are 0 to 4 and 15-19.
African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI.
At least 5.3 million Americans (nearly 2% of the population) currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of TBI.
The CDC estimates that there may be 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related TBI’s each year.
TBI is the leading cause of death and disability among children and young adults.
The leading causes of TBI are falls (28%), motor vehicle accidents (20%), being struck or banging head against an object (19%), and assault (11%).
The lifetime costs to treat someone with a TBI is estimated to be between $600,000 to $1.8 million.

If you or a loved one in the Portland, Lewiston and all of Southern and Central Maine area has been in an accident where the head and neck may have been injured, do not delay. Contact the Brain Injury lawyers of Hardy, Wolf & Downing immediately and let us help you determine if you have a case.

Contact our Maine personal injury lawyers today to schedule a consultation.