Brain injuries are serious and potentially life-changing events, and shockingly easy to contract.
All of us are one small misstep away from something that could impact us for months to come; the brain is a complex organ, and recovering from a brain injury can take a great deal of time. But what are the key steps to recovery from a brain injury?
Medical Intervention
Direct and immediate medical care is naturally essential in a large majority of brain injury cases, whether to reduce the symptoms of the brain injury or to alleviate the root cause itself. In some instances, surgery may be the appropriate path to take, and not just for instances of physical trauma. Encephalitis brought on by viral infection can sometimes require surgeons to remove part of the skull, in order to alleviate pressure on the brain and mitigate injury.
Surgery is a drastic and serious form of medical treatment, and, while necessary and beneficial in many cases, can be injurious in others. There is a slim likelihood of surgical intervention worsening matters, such as if a surgical intervention was unnecessary – but particularly if a surgeon makes a mistake that causes further injury to the brain. In the event of such a medical failure, the only real recourse can be found through seeking advice from brain injury claims experts regarding potential compensation.
Rest
Whatever medical care you have received as a brain injury patient, rest is a crucial next step. There are bodily processes that need to restart, and essential healing that needs to take place before you can start your journey to recovery. This is more than just bed rest, too; taxing the brain cognitively after a brain injury can cause further complications in certain circumstances, and should be avoided even if only for your mental health.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is a long road for many brain injury patients and one that can involve multiple different forms of address. The long-term consequences of a brain injury might not be properly understood until after initial treatment and can include everything from behavioural shifts to cognitive changes and physical impairments.
As such, rehabilitation necessarily involves addressing each. Speech therapy can be essential for regaining certain cognitive faculties for some, while physiotherapy can help return sensation and mobility to limbs rendered inert by nerve damage.
Counselling can be just as important for the emotional part of the equation, too, both in a general and in a targeted sense. Brain injuries can impact our emotional intelligence, and it may be that we need a helping hand towards handling ourselves emotionally again. Of course, even brain injuries that have relatively few physical impacts can cause mental strife, where stress and depression can result from the slow rate of recovery or the understanding of new limitations.
