There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you experience head trauma in a car accident—including serious damage to your vision.
Broken glass in your eyes and wounds from flying debris are, obviously, a risk to your sight. However, victims of traumatic brain injuries(TBIs)can also suffer serious damage to their vision even without any outward trauma to their eyes.
Anyone who has been in a recent car accident should be on watch for the signs of an eye injuryrelated to hidden trauma:
— You may suffer from nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to light and headaches even if you only experience relatively mild brain trauma.
— You may suddenly have difficulty adjusting your focus between objects that are nearby and objects that are far away or develop double vision.
— Retinal detachment is a common occurrence after head and brain trauma. The retina, which is in the back of your eye, is fairly delicate tissue and a tear requires immediate surgical intervention to prevent blindness.
— Vitreous jelly, the clear substance that fills your eye, can literally be knocked out of place. This can create“floaters”which appear like thin, filmy pieces of debris in your sight, making it difficult to see clearly around them.
— Blood vessels can also burst into the vitreous jelly, causing a hemorrhage that also obscures your vision for a time.
— The pressure on your optic nerve can increase after a brain injury, ultimately decreasing blood circulation within the eye itself to the point where near or total blindness is possible.
Anytime you receive a hard shock that causes your brain to bounce forward and back against your skull, you can suffer a brain injury. No matter how slight you think your injury may be, don’t disregard vision problems that appear shortly after a car accident or dismiss them as simple fatigue. Your eyesight may depend on receiving a prompt evaluation and treatment.
For more information or advice, contact our law firm. For information on how our firm handles car accident claims and can help you get fair compensation for your injuries, please visit our web page.
