---
title: How a Concussion Affects Your Way of Life
description: Learn how concussions can affect your way of life. If you need a personal injury attorney in Nashville, call Bart Durham Injury Law at 800.844.1712.
---

[Bart Durham Injury Law News & Blog](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog)

# [How a Concussion Affects Your Way of Life](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog/how-a-concussion-affects-your-way-of-life)

 Written by [Bart Durham Injury Law](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog/author/bart-durham-injury-law) | Mar 2, 2020, 2:30:00 PM

Car accidents are dangerous and frightening, but one danger we often forget about is concussions. According to the CDC, concussions are [mild](https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html) traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and they can be caused by car accidents.

Not only can [concussions](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog/concussion-symptoms-after-a-car-accident) have immediate symptoms, but they can also result in long-term problems. Here are some of the ways they can affect you.

## Short-Term Symptoms

Unsurprisingly, concussions result in headaches. If you have a headache after a blow to the head, go to a hospital right away as they can be dangerous. Someone else should probably drive, however, as concussions can impair your driving.

Concussion symptoms include

- Loss of consciousness
- Feeling dizzy
- Difficulty balancing
- Feeling sensitive to sound and light
- Blurred vision
- Nausea/vomiting
- Fatigue
- Drowsiness
- Restlessness while sleeping
- Difficulty concentrating or comprehending
- Forgetting people/places
- Depression
- Irritability/nervousness
- Ringing noises
- Seizures

Talk to a doctor after a blow to the head, especially if you experience any of these symptoms.

[Learn more about concussion symptoms.](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog/concussion-symptoms-after-a-car-accident) Also, check out [this article](https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2016/11/concussion.php) from the University of Utah Health.

Additionally, according to the CDC, dangerous blood clots can form in certain rare cases after a concussion. These can be very dangerous. Contact your doctor or go to the emergency room immediately if you have any of these systems as listed by the CDC:

- Headache that gets worse and doesn't go away
- Weakness, numbness or reduced coordination
- Repeated vomiting or nausea
- Slurred speech

As stated by the CDC, you should take someone to the emergency department immediately if he or she has any of these symptoms. If he or she:

- Looks very drowsy or cannot be awakened
- Has one pupil (the black part in the middle of the eye) larger than the other
- Has convulsions or seizures
- Cannot recognize people or places
- Is getting more and more confused, restless, or agitated
- Has unusual behavior
- Loses consciousness (a brief loss of consciousness should be taken seriously and the person should be carefully monitored)

[See the full paper from the CDC.](https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/pdfs/providers/facts_about_concussion_tbi-a.pdf)

Additionally, someone who has had a concussion should be woken up every couple of hours for at least the first night to make sure they don’t have any of the emergency symptoms. People with a concussion *can* sleep, they should just be woken up periodically.

## Long-Term Symptoms

When the symptoms of a concussion last for a long time, it’s called post-concussion syndrome. You would think that the harder someone is hit, the more likely he or she would be to develop post-concussion syndrome, but according to the Mayo Clinic, this isn’t accurate. It is unclear why some people experience long-term symptoms while others experience only short-term.

According to the University of Utah Health, “Long-term effects of concussion are rare. In fact, the vast majority of people see any symptoms resolve within a few weeks. Only about 20 percent of people might suffer from post-concussion syndrome, where they continue to experience symptoms after six weeks.” However, if someone has a lot of concussions, one after another, long-term effects become more likely.

If you get a concussion, the University recommends that you, “see a doctor within one to two days of a head injury, even if you... \[do\] not require emergency treatment.”

Children, teens, and elderly adults often take longer to recover from concussions, according to the CDC.

## Can I Drive After a Concussion?

Concussions impact people’s ability to drive even in the long-term. A study from the Journal of Neurotrauma tested the driving skills of 14 people who’d had a concussion 7-24 days earlier (and no longer had obvious symptoms) against 14 people who hadn’t had a concussion. The concussed people performed worse even though they seemed to have recovered completely.

The researchers said that, “Despite being asymptomatic \[without symptoms\], concussed participants exhibited poorer vehicle control, especially when navigating curves. Driving impairments may persist beyond when individuals with a concussion have returned to driving.”

Likewise, the law firm [Shollenberger Januzzi & Wolfe, LLP](https://www.sholljanlaw.com/firm-overview/) said, “The very skills required for safe driving – concentration, situational awareness, swift reaction time, visual processing and sound judgment – are impacted by concussions.” They also wrote that “it’s best for victims to play it safe and stay off the road as much as they can in the aftermath of a concussion.”

Concussions hurt your ability to drive which is a major way that concussions can affect your way of life.

## Concentration and Concussion

Medical News Today reported on a study investigating long-term effects of concussions in athletes. They wrote: “The results \[of the study\] indicate that there is abnormal brain wave activity for years after a concussion, as well partial wasting away of the motor pathways, which can lead to significant attention problems.”

If you suffered from a concussion because of an accident and need a personal injury attorney in Nashville, call Bart Durham (*after* going to the doctor, of course). Our initial consultation is free.

[View full post](https://news.bartdurham.com/blog/how-a-concussion-affects-your-way-of-life)

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