Thunderclap Headaches After a Crash: A Warning Sign of a Life-Threatening Brain Injury

Many people suffer a serious brain injury in an accident. For example, someone could strike their head when they fall from a height or when involved in a car accident. Milder brain injuries like concussions are more common in many personal injury cases. But it’s possible you suffered significant trauma, resulting in a blood clot or torn artery.

Virtually everyone has experienced a tension headache, which feels like a belt slowly tightening around your skull. Tension headaches build slowly but often respond to common pain medication. A thunderclap headache is different. The name refers to a sudden, incredibly painful headache, whose onset is like a thunderclap in the middle night. While tension headaches build slowly over hours, a thunderclap headache can come out of nowhere and lead to blinding pain.

This is actually the sign of a major medical emergency. Go to the hospital for immediate evaluation and treatment. When left untreated, these headaches can result in permanent brain damage or even death.

What Causes a Thunderclap Headache?

Most people with this type of headache experience serious medical conditions, including:

• Brain clot. The medical name is cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. A clot can form in the brain and prevent normal draining of blood, which increases pressure inside the skull.
• Brain aneurysm. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is the name for this aneurysm.
• Torn artery (cervical artery dissection). A torn artery can lead to uncontrolled bleeding.
• Brain infection, including meningitis.

Often, the “thunderclap” is a result of pressure building inside the brain or between the brain and the skull. Immediate evaluation is necessary, because your body has limited capacity to heal on its own.

Listen to your body after an accident. A thunderclap headache is often a sign that you are experiencing intracranial bleeding. Your medical team can perform a medical imaging scan (like a CT scan) to see what is happening in your brain.

Many patients need blood thinners or surgery to repair damaged arteries. Reducing pressure in the brain is critical to preventing death. If blood pressure continues to increase, then oxygen can be cut off from healthy brain tissue, leading to cellular death.

Discuss Whether You Can File an Injury Claim by Contacting Hoy Law

Our firm can help anyone who has suffered a significant injury through no fault of their own. We can negotiate settlements for people injured in a variety of motor vehicle accidents, including truck accidents and car crashes. Many people deal with acute brain injuries, often requiring immediate treatment.

Once your condition stabilizes, please call our office to speak with an attorney. Our objective is to hold the negligent party accountable for the accident which left you injured. We can reconstruct the accident to show the other motorist is at fault, and we can collect your medical records to show the full severity of your injuries. Call us at Hoy Law today to speak with a Sioux Falls brain injury lawyer.