Brain injuries are certainly catastrophic events, especially at first. Someone may have trouble remembering what happened, or severe injuries can even mean that someone is unconscious or in a coma. Brain trauma is very significant and can even lead to cell death inside the brain.
That being said, in the weeks and months following the injury, the person may regain a lot of the skills that they lost. They may start making new memories again, for example. They could recover physical skills, such as motor skills. The mental fog that they’re feeling could fade. Brain injuries lead to a wide variety of potential symptoms, and these can get better with time.
However, there’s no guarantee that the brain injury is going to completely heal. Some of the ramifications may last for life, which is really what makes this so catastrophic. Why does this happen?
Cells don’t regenerate within the brain
The reason that this happens is that your body relies on cell regeneration and division in order to create new tissues. If you break a bone or cut skin or muscle tissue, for instance, your body can replace those cells over time. The death of cells is still problematic, of course, but it’s not something that you cannot overcome.
Within the brain, however, there are very limited examples of cellular regeneration. It virtually does not happen at all. If brain cells are lost during the incident, such as when oxygen is cut off to the brain or when there is excessive pressure, then those cells may be permanently lost.
Your brain will still attempt to give you back some of the skills you had by seeking out new neural pathways. This is why you’re going to see that type of healing at the beginning. Working with a rehabilitation specialist can help you to maximize this healing. But it may stop at a certain point, and not continue, and that often just means that your brain cannot create any new neural pathways and is also unable to regenerate the cells that it would need to repair the damage.
What are your options?
If you’re facing a diagnosis like this, you know that life has changed forever. It’s absolutely critical that you understand your legal options at this time.