Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers | July 30, 2025 | Traumatic Brain Injury
Suffering a brain injury is always devastating, but coup and contrecoup injuries are some of the most serious that you can experience. These can leave you with catastrophic consequences that prevent you from living as you used to and could result in no longer being able to work or take care of yourself.
Coup bain injuries refer to those where the harm to the brain occurs right at the place of impact.
A contrecoup injury, on the other hand, involves the brain suffering damage on the opposite side of where the initial impact occurred.
Finally, a coup contrecoup injury is a traumatic brain injury in which damage occurs at the site where your brain hits your skull as well as on the opposite side of the brain as it bounces. It’s a catastrophic injury caused by a forceful blow to the head. Contact our personal injury lawyer to schedule a free consultation if you need legal counsel.
What Are the Symptoms of Coup and Contrecoup Injuries?
Everyone can experience brain injuries differently, but some common symptoms of coup and contrecoup injuries include:
- Severe headaches
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Memory loss
- Nausea
- Sensitivity to sound and light
- Loss of consciousness
- Seizures
There may be other issues that arise depending on where you were hit. You could experience weakness on one side of your body, speech problems, and issues with fine motor skills.
What Causes Coup and Contrecoup Injuries?
The most common cause of these injuries is car accidents. They typically occur when high speeds are involved or when a collision occurs with a truck. These injuries could also happen in rollover crashes.
It’s not just the impact force that can lead to the injury, but also fast deceleration. If your head abruptly stops moving after traveling at high speeds, your brain continues to move forward, leading to the coup contrecoup injury.
Falls can also cause these injuries. Falling from heights is particularly likely to be the cause, but even what may seem a simple slip and fall accident can result in them. The force of the blow is what causes it.
Work-related accidents in construction sites or anywhere else where heavy machinery is present could also cause these brain injuries. Being hit by tools or equipment with enough force can cause the brain to bounce and hit two sides of the skull.
What Compensation Can You Receive for These Injuries?
After suffering a brain injury of this kind, you can receive compensation to cover your medical expenses. You will likely need ongoing medical care; your compensation can also cover that.
Sometimes, coup contrecoup injuries cause irreversible damage that makes working impossible. In that case, you can receive the wages you already lost as you got treatment and compensation for your loss of earning potential.
If your loved one died from this injury and you’re filing a wrongful death claim, you can also receive compensation for funerary expenses.
You can receive damages for the pain and suffering you experienced, too. The injury’s severity will impact how much you can receive. If you can’t live your life as you used to, you can get compensation for the loss of enjoyment of life you’ve sustained. When a loved one dies because of these injuries, you can also claim loss of consortium.
Contact the Brain Injury Lawyers at Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers in Maryland for Help Today
If you have suffered losses in any kind of accident that someone else’s actions caused, you may be entitled to file a claim. This is not something you should do on your own, especially if you’re dealing with significant injuries that might not allow you to live normally.
For more information, please contact Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a confidential consultation with a brain injury lawyer. Our team is available to assist clients in Lanham, Frederick, Rockville, Waldorf, Annapolis, and Lexington Park, Maryland.
We proudly serve Charles County, Prince George County its surrounding areas. Visit our law offices at:
Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers – Waldorf Office
8 Post Office Rd Waldorf, MD 20602
(301) 932-9997
Available 24/7
Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers – Lanham Office
4600 Forbes Blvd Ste #200 Lanham, MD 20706
(301) 936-0011
Available 24/7