Texas head injury lawyer: are concussions not taken seriously enough?

Here’s a question for you – which sounds more serious, “mild traumatic brain injury” or “concussion”?  Would you monitor a child with a mild TBI more closely than one with a concussion?  Recent research has revealed that the name doctors give to a head injury affects the type of care accident victims receive.

 

Concussion vs. Mild Traumatic Brain Injury – terminology matters

 

A recent research study has found that when head injury victims are told that they suffered a concussion, they end up spending less time in the hospital and they return to their usual activities sooner than if they were told they had a mild traumatic brain injury.

 

This is significant because two head injury victims with the same symptoms and same type of injury could receive different care based on what their doctor choose to label their injury.  The study found these effects especially pronounced when the head injury victims were children.

 

Children and head injury terminology

 

When a child is diagnosed with a concussion, they are discharged earlier from the hospital, they return to school sooner, and they resume their usual activities – including sports – sooner than children diagnosed with a mild TBI.  This can negatively affect the child, as they may struggle in school and have other lingering side-effects from their head injury, side-effects that may not be attributed to their brain injury because it was only called a concussion.

 

The study’s authors believe that it is in patients’ best interests to take head injuries more seriously, and call them mild traumatic brain injuries instead of concussions.  For whatever reason, the word “concussion” just does not communicate the seriousness of the injury the way mild TBI does.

 

• Suffering from a head injury, concussion or traumatic brain injury in Texas?  Let us help you hold the negligent person or company responsible – contact our Houston office today.