A brain injury can be minor, causing headaches for a few days without lasting issues, or severe, where it changes your life completely. Regardless of the injury, damage to the brain will occur.
You may wonder if that damage will last forever or if it will heal. News Medical explains injuries to the brain can sometimes fully heal, but they also can leave behind lasting damage.
Most cases
In most cases, brain injuries will heal in time. The damage will go away and not leave any lasting problems. It may take days, months or even years for this to happen, but eventually, the brain returns to normal. This can happen in all types of cases, even severe ones, because the brain is complex. Doctors really do not know everything they need to about this organ. It is difficult to understand, so that means even trained medical professionals cannot know if a damaged brain will heal or not in the long run.
Potential issues
However, there are specific instances where it is clear complete healing will not occur. These include those where the brain suffers severe damage. If a doctor has to remove a portion of the organ, then full healing cannot occur. The patient will experience adverse effects due to the surgery for life.
Some damage is so intensive that the organ cannot heal, so there will never be complete recovery. In some cases, the patient is responsible for not allowing healing to occur by refusing treatments or not following care plans.
The best case scenario with a brain injury is to follow all orders from your medical providers. Stay focused on healing the best you can, and learn how to adjust your life to the changes that occur due to the injury.
