What Are Symptoms of a Mild Brain Injury?

If you survive a motorcycle accident with a few minor scrapes, you might feel you were lucky. However, even a seemingly mild accident may produce a serious, life threatening condition. For example, if you take a blow to the head in an auto collision, you may only have a slight headache afterwards. Mild symptoms like these sometimes indicate a far worse problem.

It is easy to mistake mild brain injury symptoms as just normal everyday problems you can easily treat with medicine or rest. Still, they bear special attention if they occur following a motorcycle accident. The Mayo Clinic explains the different kinds of mild brain injury symptoms you could experience following a head injury.

Physical problems

Physical symptoms of a mild brain injury may include a headache, fatigue, drowsiness or dizziness. You may also experience sleep problems. You might have trouble sleeping following a head injury. On the other hand, you might sleep for longer periods of time than usual.

You could experience more serious symptoms. You might lose consciousness for a brief period of time, perhaps a few seconds or minutes.  Your sense of balance might become impaired, making it harder to stay steady on your feet. Nausea or vomiting may also occur. Some people with a mild brain injury start to have trouble speaking.

Sensory problems

A mild brain injury does not just produce physical pain. It can also damage your senses. You might notice your surroundings now look blurry. You could have a bad taste in your mouth or a ringing in your ears. The outdoors feel brighter to you. Even interior lights seem more intense. You may also become more sensitive to sound.

Emotional or cognitive problems

Even if you do not feel physical problems at first, you might experience unexplained emotional swings following a motorcycle accident. Brain injury victims can have periods of depression or abrupt changes in mood. Concentration seems more difficult. You might also have problems remembering things.

While these issues may not mean you have suffered a severe brain injury, the timing of these symptoms can be important. Sometimes an injury victim experiences them hours or days after an injury, but they can also manifest days or weeks later. They may also happen in conjunction with more severe symptoms like seizures, persistent headaches, or prolonged unconsciousness, which may tell you that you need serious medical attention as soon as possible.