You know that your baby is growing up when the phrase “pituitary gland” enters his vocabulary. This tiny organ produces many of the hormones that make adolescence such a tumultuous time, and fourth-grade teachers tend to warn students that the pituitary gland exists before it begins its reign of terror. In fact, the pituitary gland may be one of the most underrated body parts. Producing the sex hormones that play an important role in puberty is only one of the pituitary gland's many functions. It secretes many different hormones that play a role in many different aspects of your life, from your sleep-wake cycles to your appetite for food. Disorders of the pituitary gland, such as pituitary tumors, are common in adults. A less common cause of pituitary hormone disorders is traumatic injury to the pituitary gland, such as might occur if someone suffers a head injury in a car accident. A Spokane auto accident lawyer can help you if you are suffering from hormone deficiencies as a result of a head injury that you sustained in a car accident or other accidental traumatic injury.

Hormone Deficiencies Can Be a Complication of Concussions

Concussions tend to reveal their true ugliness slowly. The initial traumatic injury may not even cause you to lose consciousness, and at first, it might not hurt enough to make you think that you need medical attention. Over the next several hours, though, you start to feel worse, bad enough to go to the emergency room. The headaches, drowsiness, and dizziness subside over the next few weeks or months.

If the head injury that caused your concussion also affected your pituitary gland, you may also suffer from hypopituitarism, which usually does not resolve without treatment. Hypopituitarism is when the pituitary gland produces lower-than-normal levels of hormones. The following can be symptoms of hypopituitarism:

• Weight gain
• Increased need for sleep and decreased energy
• Increased urination
• Menstrual cycle changes in women under 50
• Infertility in men and women
• Low blood pressure
• Always feeling cold
• Constipation
• Muscle weakness

Treatment of hypopituitarism involves taking hormonal medications to replace the hormones that your pituitary gland has stopped producing. Some of these are available as oral medications, but others are injections.

If your injuries are the result of a car accident, you have the right to seek compensation from the party responsible for the accident, such as the at-fault driver or the company that owns the vehicle that hit you. If your hypopituitarism is the direct result of a car accident, then its treatment counts as an accident-related medical expense. Depending on the severity of your injuries and on the insurance policy limits of the responsible parties, you may be able to get the money you need through an insurance claim without going to court.

Contact West Law Office About Car Accident Cases

A car accident lawyer can help you if you suffer a pituitary gland injury in a car accident. Contact West Law Office in Spokane, Washington, to find out more about your legal options.