Understanding recovery after a traumatic brain injury

On Behalf of Scott Marshall Injury Attorneys | October 14, 2022 | Car Accident Injuries

Many people often think traumatic brain injuries are only suffered by soldiers or professional athletes, but they frequently happen to everyday people. An auto accident is one of the most common ways people suffer from traumatic brain injuries.

In some cases, a traumatic brain injury, such as a concussion, will heal and the person will fully recover. But, in other cases, individuals will unfortunately not heal to the fullest simply due to the trauma done to the brain. Other parts of your body don’t seem to have the same problem. Many times, tissue in the human body will regenerate and slowly repair the damage.

So, what is it about the brain that regeneration isn’t possible in all cases? One reason involves neural cells.

Neural cells

The human brain is composed of what’s called neural cells. And the vast majority of them cannot regenerate at all. They don’t split and they aren’t reproduced. This is very different than the rest of your body, where cell division is common and your entire body transforms itself every so often.

Neural cells are provided at birth and once damaged, the body does not repair them. This is problematic because if the brain is damaged in a way that causes you to lose the ability to, for instance speak, you will likely not regain the function. Your brain, however, can look for different neural pathways or try to find ways to replicate the same actions, but this may not always be possible.

No one can waive a magic wand to turn back time and prevent the accident from occurring. However, there are ways to mitigate the recovery period for a TBI. Financial compensation, both today and in the years to come, could be available to pay for medical treatment, physical therapy, surgical procedures, medical equipment and more.