You Don’t Need to Hit Your Head to Have a TBI

Most people assume you only get a traumatic brain injury (TBI) if you hit your head — like in a fall, sports collision, or car crash. But modern medical research proves otherwise.

You can suffer a life-altering brain injury without ever striking your head.

In fact, rapid acceleration and deceleration — such as what happens during a car crash, truck impact, or blast wave — can cause the brain to move violently inside the skull, damaging neural connections. A PubMed-indexed study of 414 injured road users found that brain injury occurred even in the absence of direct head impact, solely due to whiplash-like forces (McLean et al., Injury Prevention, 2020).

This is critical information for crash victims — and anyone who has ever been told “you’re fine because the scans are normal.”

How Can a Brain Injury Happen Without Hitting Your Head?

Think of your brain like Jell-O inside a container. If you shake the container hard enough, the Jell-O smacks into the sides and tears internally — even if the container itself never cracks.

Similarly, when your body stops suddenly in a crash, your skull stops — but your brain keeps moving, slamming into the inner walls and twisting on its axis. This can trigger:

• Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) — stretching and tearing of neural fibers

• White matter damage — which doesn’t show up on standard CT or MRI scans

• Cognitive and emotional symptoms that may appear days or weeks later

This is especially common in:

• Rear-end crashes or T-bone impacts

• Truck accidents, where enormous force transfers into the smaller vehicle

• Falls where the body jerks suddenly but the head doesn’t strike anything

• Military or industrial blast exposure

“My Scan Was Normal — So Why Don’t I Feel Normal?”

Many TBI victims are dismissed in hospitals because CT scans and MRIs only detect bleeding or fractures — not microscopic brain damage.

Advanced imaging methods like Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) can reveal damage — and studies have shown:

• A meta-analysis in Frontiers in Neurology confirmed that mild TBI patients had reduced white matter integrity even when standard scans appeared normal (Davenport et al., 2015).

• A longitudinal study in Journal of Neurotrauma found that brain changes can evolve over time, meaning symptoms may worsen months later (Hulkower et al., 2013).

• Veterans with past concussions showed chronic microstructural brain changes years later, according to a JAMA Network study (Koerte et al., 2020).

So if you’re dealing with brain fog, mood swings, headaches, memory loss, or personality changes after a crash — you’re not imagining it.

Warning Signs of a “No-Impact” TBI

If you’ve recently been in a collision or sudden jolt — even if you never blacked out — watch for:

• Trouble concentrating or multitasking

• Sensitivity to light or sound

• Word-finding problems or slowed thinking

• Anxiety, irritability, or depression

• Balance problems or blurred vision

• Constant fatigue or sleep changes

These are not just “stress” or “getting older.” They may be neurological red flags.

Why These Cases Matter — Especially in Legal Claims

Insurance companies love to argue that “no head impact” or “no visible injury on a scan” means no real injury.

Science says otherwise.

That’s why having the right legal team matters.

How KBD Attorneys Helps TBI Victims Get Justice

At Ketterer, Browne & Davan, LLC,  (KBD Attorneys), we represent car crash, trucking accident, and fall victims who developed brain injuries — even when doctors or insurers tried to downplay their symptoms.

We work closely with neurologists, neuroradiologists, and brain injury specialists who understand:

A TBI doesn’t require a head strike
Normal scans don’t rule out damage
Brain injuries can permanently affect work, relationships, and quality of life

We help our clients:

Get advanced imaging like DTI when necessary
Document long-term cognitive effects that aren’t visible in physical exams
Establish medical causation — even when the injury is invisible

Whether your injury came from a truck collision, rear-end crash, fall, or workplace incident, you deserve answers — and compensation.

Final Thought: Take Every Jolt Seriously

You don’t need to hit your head to have a traumatic brain injury.

So if you were in any accident involving sudden force — even one where you walked away thinking you were “fine” — pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you.

And if something feels off, don’t let anyone dismiss you.

Free Case Review for Possible TBI Claims

If you suspect you or a loved one suffered a brain injury after an accident — head impact or not — KBD Attorneys is here to help.

Contact us for a free consultation.
We fight for people who’ve been told to “shake it off” — because the science says otherwise.