Diffuse Axonal Injury Lawyer in Denver, CO
All brain injuries are serious, but there are different types of traumatic brain injuries. If you or a loved one are suffering a TBI after an accident, please reach out to a diffuse axonal Injury lawyer in Denver, CO. One of the most common types of brain injuries is a diffuse axonal injury, but a lot of people don’t know just how devastating this injury can be.
What Is A Diffuse Axonal Injury?
A diffuse axonal injury, or DAI, is a traumatic brain injury that happens when the brain shifts inside the skull as an injury occurs. There are long fibers called axons in the brain. Axons are nerve fibers, and they carry nerve impulses throughout the brain. This type of injury causes the axons to become disconnected all across the brain. People who receive this injury are usually in a coma.
Changes to the brain from a diffuse axonal injury can be hard to see, even with CT and MRI scans.
What Are Symptoms of DAI?
Knowing the symptoms of a diffuse axonal injury can help you reach a physician, especially if your DAI is mild and you do not lose consciousness.
Some of those symptoms are:
- Disorientation and confusion
- Headaches
- Nausea and vomiting
- Drowsiness and fatigue
- Trouble sleeping
- Sleeping longer than usual
- Loss of balance
The most common symptom of DAI is losing consciousness for six hours or more, but that’s not always the case. Knowing other symptoms that indicate a mild DAI could save your life. The type of symptoms can tell a physician what area of the brain was injured.
Causes and Risk Factors
DAI occurs anytime the brain moves back and forth within the skull because of acceleration and deceleration. This is the sort of acceleration and deceleration you might see during a violent attack, a car accident, during a fall, or even from child abuse such as shaken baby syndrome.
Treatment Options for DAI
The first thing a physician will try to do with a patient that suffers from a DAI is reduce swelling in their brain. The swelling can cause more damage. Sometimes, a physician may prescribe steroids to help lower the swelling, other times surgery may be preferred.
Surgery to fix a DAI is not available, however they can treat swelling and attempt rehabilitation to help with other issues.
Some recovery programs that a victim of a diffuse axonal injury may receive are:
- Speech therapy: relearning how to speak, or sometimes relearning specific words and sounds.
- Physical therapy: relearning how to do physical activities such as walking.
- Recreational therapy:
- Occupational therapy: relearning how to do daily activities by themselves, such as self-care routines, writing, and getting dressed.
- Adaptive equipment training: learning to use adaptive equipment, which can help you speak or walk, for example.
- Counseling: to adapt to your life after the accident, you may enter into counseling that’s specifically about the accident and your injuries.
If you or a family member is in an accident, or is otherwise injured with a diffuse axonal injury, reach out to a brain injury lawyer Denver, CO, such as a diffuse axonal lawyer from Richard J. Banta, PC.
