A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most devastating injuries one can experience, with life-changing implications. A TBI can leave someone with long-term effects that may take years to recover or cause permanent disability.
Recovery and rehabilitation time varies depending on the severity of the TBI as well as other individual factors. Because the brain is complicated, a TBI is complicated, recovery is a process that can involve physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral rehabilitation.
Concussion Following An Accident
Concussion is a typical brain injury following a car or other type of accident where the head was hit. A mild concussion may leave someone with a headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, confusion, sluggishness, or otherwise just “not feeling right.” These symptoms generally resolve within a few weeks to a few months with rest and medical management.
Symptoms of a concussion may not show up immediately and need to be watched for the first few days after an accident. We recommend you be seen immediately after an accident by an emergency room, urgent care, or a personal physician to see what injuries may have been sustained.
A person who has experienced a car accident should seek immediate medical attention to make sure any symptoms, including a concussion, are diagnosed and to ensure if symptoms worsen, you will know what to watch for.
Rehabilitation For Severe TBI
Traumatic brain injuries usually have long recovery periods from several months to over a year, or even longer. However, some individuals may experience long-term or lifelong effects from a serious TBI, including permanent disability.
After an accident, emergency or intensive care treatment is the first thing which may include life saving techniques and surgery to repair a skull injury. Following a hospital stay, many TBI patients transfer to a rehabilitation hospital or facility where they can begin rehabilitative therapies based on their needs and injuries. TBI rehabilitation can include one or more of these:
· Physical therapy
· Occupational therapy
· Psychiatric or psychological care
· Speech and language therapy
· Social counseling and support
Those who recover fully from a TBI can return to their normal life. Others will recover enough to return in part to their old life. Unfortunately others will have permanent physical and/or cognitive disabilities. The person’s age, overall health, affected areas in the brain, other injuries or medical conditions, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions will determine the amount of recovery that is capable. TBI recovery is not a linear process, and a patient may experience fluctuations and setbacks in both progress and symptoms during rehabilitation.
Hope For TBI Recovery
In an article published by Harvard Medical School, many TBI patients who were formerly given a dim prognosis at the outset of their injury may recover much better than expected. The potential recovery by TBI patients may need to be re-evaluated based on patients who have experienced recovery far beyond early predictions. Better treatments and improvements in rehabilitation for TBI patients can help many more to return to at least some of their previous functionality.
Fast decisions made at the time of a person’s moderate to severe TBI (msTBI) may lead to “placing arbitrary limits on patients’ remarkable potential to recover and on the rehabilitative treatments that may help them,” said Joseph Giacino, co-first author of the study and professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School.
The authors realized that severe impairments in the short term do not mean a negative outcome in the long term. “When discussing prognosis during the first two weeks after injury, clinicians should be particularly cautious about making early, definitive prognostic statements suggesting poor outcomes and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in patients with msTBI,” the authors concluded.
The authors caution that their research should not be predicted as “overly optimistic” for a complete cure for TBI. Many TBI patients are still left with serious or permanent disabilities even after their rehabilitation.
Kansas City’s Premier Personal Injury Firm
Since 1918, The Popham Law Firm has been representing people just like you in personal injury cases. Our attorneys are experienced with TBI and other types of life changing injuries. We’ll be happy to review your case, let you know if you have one, and how to proceed. We will work to maximize your settlement.
We are up to date on the current case laws that apply to personal injury cases. Contact us at (844)243-2288 or use our online contact form to schedule your appointment.
