If you suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident, it could affect you in a variety of ways, depending on the part of the brain that was injured. The severity of the injury is also important. For instance, some TBIs could lead to a loss of motor skills, while others could impair cognitive function. Issues with memory are common, and some people see personality changes, such as growing more irritable and seeming very different to their family members.
With many other types of injuries, healing will eventually happen. It may take weeks for a broken bone or it may take months for damage to tendons and ligaments. How long is your traumatic brain injury going to last? Is it also going to heal eventually?
Healing is difficult to predict
According to the prestigious Johns Hopkins Medicine, this is a tricky subject because it’s difficult to accurately predict recovery. Medical professionals note that the recovery can be unique from one case to the next, and each brain injury patient has their own issues to consider. Doctors may not know how long the recovery will take, and it could take years.
In some cases, a full recovery will not ever occur. If the TBI is serious enough to cause the death of neurons or brain cells, the brain typically cannot regenerate these cells. This means that some damage may be permanent. A certain level of healing may be achieved as the brain reroutes neural pathways and seeks different ways to make these critical connections. But healing will sometimes plateau and won’t be able to continue because of the brain’s own limitations in creating new neurons.
As you can imagine, this means that a TBI may change your life forever. Be sure you know what legal options you have.