Brain injuries are very delicate injuries that can have a wide range of outcomes. In some cases, people will heal fairly quickly. In other cases, they will achieve partial healing, or it will take a long time to fully recover. In still other cases, complete healing just isn’t possible and does not occur.
In this last instance, people are sometimes confused about why their bodies can’t fully heal. Other body parts can, after all, so what is it about the brain that holds it back?
The brain cannot create new neurons
The cells in your brain are called neurons, and you were born with around 100 billion of them. To a large degree, once you reach adulthood, your brain no longer can create these types of cells.
This is vastly different than some of your other organs. For example, a damaged liver can regenerate cells to heal. Even a simple cut on your skin can heal through scar tissue and new skin cells. But your brain can’t make new cells, so there’s no way for it to replicate this type of healing.
The trade-off is that your brain will seek out new neural pathways within the tissue itself. Sometimes, new connections can be made and healing takes place. In other cases, these pathways are not available, so healing will stall at a certain point. This is why complete recovery may not occur.
Seeking medical treatment
As a result, the best option is to get medical care as soon as an injury happens. Most healing does tend to occur very shortly after the incident. The best medical treatment will assist the brain and make the highest level of healing possible.
Unfortunately, this type of medical treatment can be quite expensive. Those who have suffered an injury due to the negligence of others may need to know how to seek financial compensation to help them cover the cost of the care they need.
