Today, I want to discuss two (out of many) types of soft-tissue injuries that may result from a low-impact car accident: sprains and strains and closed-head brain injuries. The latter sounds much more serious than the former. But both can result in a dramatically lower quality of life for the victim.

In minor car accidents, the risk of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very real. After a car accident, one may experience loss of consciousness, trouble with mental focus, headaches, dizziness, strange smells, etc.. All these symptoms, as well as others, may indicate a brain injury. In their investigation, doctors will typically first order a CT Scan to determine whether there is any bleeding. If so, a craniotomy will probably be performed to drain the blood. Doctors may also order a PET scan or MRI to see if there are any objective injuries to the brain.

But usually, especially in a low-impact car accident, there will be no objective finding using these tests. Yet, the patient may suffer one or more of the above-referenced brain-injury symptoms. As a last resort, neuropsychological evaluations may be ordered to prove the injury. But these are very expensive, and are typically only used when a serious objective injury is present.

As a result, those who suffer these mild TBIs are often under compensated. Medical technology has only advanced so far. Without an objective injury it is very difficult to prove that one’s difficulty remembering things or trouble concentrating were the result of the motor vehicle accident (and not related to, say, the normal effects of aging). Often the symptoms will not be dramatic enough to cause the sufferer to complain to his/her doctor in a manner that would justify ordering expensive neuropsychological testing.

In this situation, the saving grace can be the presentation of a “before-and-after witness.” This is exactly what it sounds like. As a Miami traumatic brain injury attorney, I will be looking for someone in my client’s life that knew him/her before and after the car accident. Someone who can say, truthfully and with certainty, that my client’s life has changed for the worse as a result of the subject crash. A before-and-after (B&A) witness can be a family member, friend, neighbor or co-worker. The more independent they would seem to a jury, the better. For example, it might be assumed that my client’s spouse would have more of an incentive to exaggerate the effects of a minor-car-accident injury compared to a colleague at work.

When one hears that someone has a sprain or strain, one assumes it to be a minor injury that will fully heal in a relatively short period of time. Normally, this assumption would be correct. But sometimes, what starts as a sprain or strain can turn into permanent painful conditions that are, admittedly, not well understood. Examples of this are fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome and chronic pain syndrome. Again, there will usually be a lack of strong objective evidence to use in proving a plaintiff’s case and again, the B&A witness will become essential – if there is also evidence of costly medical care, perhaps some lost wages – to prove that the sprain or strain turned into something that substantially diminished my client’s quality of life. This is rare in a sprain/strain situation – but it is something that a good Miami motor vehicle accident attorney will be on the look out for.