If you get involved in a car accident, you could suffer from a traumatic brain injury, usually known as a TBI. These can be incredibly severe, ranging from everything from a concussion to an injury that leaves someone in a vegetative state. Most, of course, fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, but every TBI is unique.
If you do suffer from a brain injury, you may be wondering how long it’s going to take to heal. With other body parts, such as a broken arm, doctors can usually give you a fairly concrete expectation for your recovery. Are they able to do this with brain injuries?
It depends on the severity
The problem is that a traumatic brain injury can be more or less severe depending on how serious the injury was and where it occurred within the brain, along with a lot of other factors. So this means that there is not one single healing time that is predicted for these types of injuries, as there may be for a broken bone.
For instance, some experts note that it can take up to three months to fully heal from a concussion. Most people won’t even have to wait that long, and it may only take a few weeks. But you can see that even with the most mild of brain injuries, there is quite a wide range for healing.
With more severe injuries, healing can take months or even years. Doctors do generally agree that most of the healing that is going to happen will take place at the beginning. Once a person gets to a certain point, no more significant healing is usually expected.
This is why a traumatic brain injury can lead to lifelong changes. You may experience personality changes, memory issues, the loss of certain motor skills, mood swings and much more. In some cases, you will never totally overcome these issues and they can mean that you need long-term rehab, medical care or close assistance. This is when a traumatic brain injury can become incredibly expensive, as you may not be able to work and you may have rising costs with no endpoint in sight.
What can you do?
If you suffered that injury in a car accident that was caused by another driver, one thing you may want to consider is how to seek financial compensation for all of the care you need and the changes to your life.