No one expects to suffer an injury that leaves a life changed forever. Of course, you cannot predict what life will bring, and you could easily end up in this type of situation. When you do, you certainly want to understand what options you have when it comes to recovering from your injuries and recovering compensation.

In particular, head and brain injuries can prove especially life changing. Unfortunately, any number of scenarios could result in this type of injury, like car accidents. As a result, you could end up suffering tremendously because of someone else’s negligence. Depending on the severity of the trauma, you could face a number of obstacles and variances in recovery.

States of consciousness

If your brain injury proves particularly severe, your state of consciousness could face serious impacts. You may experience the following stages:

• Coma: If you fall into a coma, you are unconscious and are unable to respond to various types of stimulation.
• Vegetative state: A vegetative state is an improvement over a coma. In this state, you may startle or briefly respond to various stimulants and have sleep-wake cycles.
• Minimally conscious state: In this state, you regain a partial consciousness and can respond to stimulation in certain situations. You may also have the ability to show emotion.

Even after regaining consciousness, you may have many difficulties when it comes to recovery. You may feel nervous, restless and frustrated over your situation, and feelings of aggression may also affect you.

Improvements

Typically, the first six months after the traumatic brain injury occurs allows for the most significant improvements. However, getting better can appear more obvious for the first two years. Once that time period elapses, recovery slows, and improvements are less significant. Of course, the amount of time it takes to improve, and the types of beneficial developments, differs from person to person.

Seeking compensation

After a car accident that leads to a traumatic brain injury, you may face years of recovery, an inability to hold a job you once had, and accumulate significant medical bills. Understandably, these issues can only add to the struggles you will face. In hopes of gaining some relief, you may want to consider filing a personal injury claim against the driver considered at fault for the accident in order to seek compensation for damages allowed under Pennsylvania state law.