People sometimes assume that a head injury isn’t very serious. Say that someone slips at work, falls and hits their head on the concrete floor. They might jump right back up, shake it off and tell everyone that they’re fine. They genuinely feel like they are in that moment.
But medical experts warn that this can be dangerous. People often feel fine right after the injury. They think that everything is all right. But the truth is that they could’ve suffered a serious brain injury, and the symptoms just haven’t set in yet.
Bleeding around the brain
Part of the reason for this is that not all brain injuries damage neurons or brain cells right away. In some cases, the real damage is to blood vessels in the brain or in the surrounding tissues. If these are broken, then bleeding can start.
Immediately after the fall, that worker may not notice anything except a very minor headache. But if they don’t get medical attention, pressure keeps mounting. The bleeding continues. Over time, this pressure starts to crush the brain within the skull, leading to the onset of severe symptoms.
These symptoms could include things like a loss of consciousness, slurred speech, trouble with vision or hearing or a lack of motor skills. In some cases, people will even pass away from their injuries. If the worker ignores medical care and just goes home to take a nap, their symptoms could get much worse, to the point that they become fatal.
Workers’ comp benefits
This is why it’s so important to seek medical attention after any head injury. If it happened at work, then the injured party may need to know how to seek workers’ compensation benefits to cover a portion of their lost wages, their medical expenses and things of this nature.
