There are many types of car accident injuries that are obvious after a crash—a broken arm, a broken ankle, crush injuries, and bruises and lacerations, to name a few. But some injuries aren’t so obvious, such as whiplash, internal organ damage, and brain injuries. One injury that you can’t see but can have lasting effects is a concussion.
Approximately 80–90% of people recover from a concussion within a few weeks, and most recover without long-term effects. However, if you suffered a concussion and experience lingering symptoms such as balance issues, headaches, vision problems, and even irritability, you may have post-concussion syndrome (PCS). This is a condition where concussion-related symptoms persist for months or even longer.
The personal injury attorneys at Peterson Law Firm understand that if you suffer from PCS due to an accident, you may be entitled to compensation for long-term medical care, lost wages, and emotional harm. We can guide you through the legal process and provide support for pursuing financial compensation. Here, we discuss PCS symptoms and what to do if you’re experience PCS after an accident.
Post-Concussion Syndrome
Concussions are very common injuries. The National Institutes of Health estimates that more than two million people in the U.S. visit an emergency room for a traumatic brain injury each year. You don't have to lose consciousness to have a concussion, and post-concussive symptoms don’t appear to be linked to how severe your head injury was. Persistent post-concussive symptoms are also called post-concussion syndrome (PCS) and can last for months.
Sometimes, people who have PCS don’t realize it until a co-worker, friend, or relative sees a change in behavior and talks to the accident victim about it. It’s also possible for the victim to describe their symptoms by saying they feel “off” or don’t feel like themselves—that they’ve lost motivation and focus. PCS doesn’t cause observable changes in the brain, so an MRI or a CT scan can’t detect it. The brain changes that happen occur along neural pathways, so a medical professional needs to give you a neurological exam to evaluate you for PCS.
What Happens When You Develop PCS
PCS can develop after a mild, moderate, or severe TBI, as well as after suffering a brain trauma due to carbon monoxide poisoning, exposure to chemicals, some types of bacterial illnesses, and more. When you suffer a concussion or any type of TBI, your immune system causes inflammation near the site of the injury. The parts of your brain that are affected experience a temporary breakdown in and around that area. When this happens, your cells don’t get adequate oxygen to allow your brain to signal like it normally does. So, paying attention during a conversation or remembering something that happened the day before may be difficult or impossible.
Other neural pathways will then try to take over and complete the process, even though it’s a less efficient path for the information to take. And as other brain areas try to take on more work than they should, they’re challenged, tiring out your brain. For patients with PCS, the brain keeps using these less efficient pathways to complete tasks even after the inflammation has resolved. Because the brain continues to use suboptimal signaling, the results are long-lasting concussion symptoms.
Symptoms of PCS
PCS symptoms typically fall into three categories: physical, cognitive, and emotional. A patient can experience a mix of symptoms from multiple categories, but no one person experiences PCS the same way. These symptoms may include the following:
Physical
- Vertigo
- Sensitivity to light and noise
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Nausea/vomiting
- Ongoing fatigue
- Blurry vision
Cognitive
- Memory problems
- Trouble focusing
- Brain fog
- Difficulty concentrating
- Slower mental processing
Emotional
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- Mood swings
- Personality changes
If you develop headaches after a concussion, they may feel like migraines or tension headaches. They could be related to a neck injury that also occurred during the accident.
Other PCS Symptoms
- You may find your symptoms are worse when you’re in certain environments, such as a noisy restaurant or when you’re hungry.
- PCS can make it challenging to read a book or magazine for more than 15 minutes.
- If you push yourself physically and mentally, it may cause a flare-up of your PCS symptoms.
- The anxiety and depression you may feel could cause problems with family and friend relationships.
Ongoing PCS symptoms usually appear within the first 7 to 10 days after an injury and will generally last longer than three months. But sometimes these symptoms can last for a year or more.
Compensation for PCS: the Uphill Legal Challenge
When you have an obvious injury, it’s easy for an insurance company, a judge, or a jury to see you’ve been hurt—walking around in a cast on your arm or leg doesn’t need a lot of explanation and is often proof enough. But when your injury is invisible, insurance companies will often try to deny your claim. One of the most difficult challenges you face with a PCS claim is proving that you’re still injured when there’s no visible damage. The insurance company may make the following legal challenges:
- There’s no real evidence. Because concussions don’t show up on standard imaging tests, insurers will use that to their advantage, claiming that there’s no evidence to support your ongoing symptoms.
- You should be healed already. Insurers have a bias against “mild” TBIs. They may claim that if your medical report shows your head injury was mild, you should have recovered already.
- Yours are unrelated psychological symptoms. If your claim includes experiencing mood changes, the insurer may dismiss them as mental health issues that are unrelated to the accident.
- You have a pre-existing condition. If you had migraines, depression, or anxiety in the past, or any other type of head trauma, the insurers might use those conditions to challenge your claim.
Why a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You With a PCS Claim
When you’ve experienced a PCS, you need to focus on healing, and you need a lawyer to help you obtain compensation. Our brain injury lawyers understand that PCS is more than a temporary condition—it can be a life-changing condition. Our job is to help you obtain the compensation you need by doing the following:
- Working with qualified medical experts. Neurologists, neuropsychologists, and vestibular therapists can document your injury, record your symptoms, and make a specific diagnosis and recommendations regarding your PCS.
- Collecting non-medical evidence. Our attorneys will gather employer statements, notes and symptom diaries, and observations from family members that address your condition and the changes they’ve seen in your physical and mental health.
- Calculating all damages. Insurance companies often want to dismiss or make light of cognitive and emotional damages. We will calculate all damages, including future and long-term damages, lost income, future medical care, diminished earning capacity, and emotional distress.
- Challenging the defense. The attorneys for the negligent party may try to claim that you’re exaggerating your condition or pretending your symptoms are worse than they are.
- Pursuing every available source of compensation. This may include auto insurance, UM/UIM policies, or a personal injury lawsuit.
Compensation for a PCS Claim
After you’re injured, the insurance company for the negligent party will likely contact you right away—sometimes when you’re still in the hospital. They may seem sympathetic and make you a quick settlement offer. However, compensation for a brain injury should cover all current medical conditions and the ones you’re likely to face in the future. Compensation should include the following:
- Medical expenses. Coverage for past, present, and future doctor visits, treatments, therapy, prescriptions, and counseling.
- Lost wages. This should include compensation for missed work during your recovery, as well as reduced future earning potential due to cognitive, memory, or focus issues.
- Pain and suffering. This should include compensation for physical pain, mental anguish, headaches, dizziness, headaches, and decreased quality of life.
- Loss of enjoyment. This should include compensation for your inability to participate in hobbies, parenting, your social life, and daily activities due to PCS symptoms.
Factors that can affect your compensation include the severity of the symptoms. If you have persistent or long-lasting symptoms, they may significantly increase the value of your settlement.