If you work with your hands for a living, you know that serious injuries can occur any time, without warning. Unfortunately, this often means that manual labor employers expect workers to accept occasional injury as part of the job, instead of giving a workplace injury the attention and understanding it deserves.
For workers who suffer head injuries, this attitude of “shake it off and get back to work” is dangerous. Head injuries can affect many areas of your brain, which may cause trouble throughout your entire body or may lead to significant changes in the way your brain functions. Unfortunately, head injuries and brain injuries often do not present clear symptoms the way that a broken arm or some other injuries do.
A worker who suffers a broken arm has a clear indicator that he or she still needs more time to heal fully as long as the broken arm is in a cast. For those who suffer head injuries, there is no cast to indicate that the recovery is still ongoing. Many workers who suffer head injuries feel pressure to return to work or to carry the same workload they did before the injury.
If you suffer a blow to the head on the job, you may have a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mild TBIs may express symptoms many different ways, which can derail your ability to work, even in a job you’ve held for a long time. Don’t hesitate to reach out to an experienced attorney to protect your recovery and identify the benefits you deserve to receive from a workers’ compensation claim.
Mild TBIs take time to heal
Your brain is an incredible organ, but it is not invincible. When a person suffers a brain injury, it may affect how the person performs one’s job or communicates with coworkers.
Mild TBIs can cause ongoing headaches, nausea and even seizures, but most of the symptoms are not this obvious. More commonly, victims feel as though they cannot concentrate the way they used to, or constantly misunderstand conversations or the things they read.
Mild TBIs also cause increased irritability, especially when it comes to completing tasks the right way. Many victims of mild TBIs find that they cannot focus well, and lash out at others because of this frustration. Some people around the victim, or even victims themselves, may feel that this means there is something weak or wrong with them, but, in reality, they may simply have a physical injury affecting the way their brain functions.
These symptoms can last for up to a year if left untreated. Many victims who do not receive proper treatment realize too late that this injury cost them their job or even their family, breaking apart many of their close relationships.
Get the treatment you need
If you recently suffered a blow to the head on the job, don’t write it off as a non-injury. Be sure to get proper medical treatment and work with workers’ compensation to fully recover from the injury before it threatens your job or lifestyle.
