If you suffer a brain injury in a car accident, it can have serious ramifications right away. Many people will lose consciousness. They may lose physical skills. There may be a lot of mental fog, or they may not be able to make the cognitive connections they used to make. Any type of head injury is definitely a reason to call the authorities to get immediate medical treatment.
After this treatment is provided, some level of brain healing is possible. Some minor injuries can even heal completely. But major injuries are often limited, and you may not see 100% healing. You could still have to deal with symptoms that last for the rest of your life, although the specific symptoms differ widely, depending on what part of the brain was damaged.
Why can’t the brain heal completely?
The problem with the brain is that it’s a fragile organ made up of neural cells. When the cells die in an accident, through loss of oxygen or in some other fashion, they cannot be replenished – in most cases. These are not the type of cells that can regenerate and replace those that were already lost. Other parts of your body certainly can do this, such as the skin and bones, but the brain lacks this ability.
In many cases, the brain can find different ways to accomplish the same goals, seeking out different neural pathways to make all of the proper connections. But there is no guarantee that this will lead to 100% healing, either, and the number of new connections that can be made are different in every case.
If you are facing life-altering changes, be sure you know exactly what legal options you have.