Many West Virginians receive mild traumatic brain injuries every year while playing sports, being involved in motor vehicle accidents, falling or suffering other types of trauma to the head. While these injuries may be characterized as being mild, they can cause lasting impacts for people who suffer from them.

Each year in the U.S., 1.7 million Americans suffer traumatic brain injuries, and three-quarters of these injuries are considered mild. Researchers have recently found that mild traumatic brain injuries such as concussions can lead to increased myelin in the affected areas. Myelin is the sheath around the nerves. The researchers indicated that increased myelin is not always a good thing because when remyelination happens after an injury, the increased myelin is not organized correctly, which can lead to it being less functional.

In addition to the issue with remyelination, mild traumatic brain injuries can cause dizziness, headaches, difficulties with concentrating and nausea. These symptoms could last for weeks. People who suffer repetitive mild concussions have also been shown to be at a heightened risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a degenerative disease common in athletes who play contact sports such as football or hockey.

A traumatic brain injury may have lasting impacts even if it is initially described as mild. In later years, people who suffered these injuries may develop delayed brain damage. People who have suffered these types of injuries may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer. If the injuries occurred in accidents that were caused by others, a lawyer may be able to help their client recover compensation. A lawyer may be able to accurately value the potential future costs so that clients might recover damages that fairly compensate their clients.