Many workplace injuries are only going to change your life for a short time. Maybe you break your leg, so you can no longer do manual labor, and you need workers’ compensation benefits to help pay for your medical bills and cover the wages that you are losing. But you expect to be able to return to work after a few weeks, even if it is in a limited capacity.
With a workplace TBI, or traumatic brain injury, your life could be changed forever. This is because a TBI will not always fully heal, so you may never overcome some of the symptoms.
Why can’t the brain heal?
Some healing is certainly possible, and it is often seen early in the process. Many symptoms will abate, such as oversensitivity to lights and sounds or persistent headaches. It is important to get medical treatment to begin this journey.
But the brain often plateaus when it comes to healing, meaning that it levels off and essentially stops, even though you still have remaining symptoms.
The difference is in the way that the brain heals. Other parts of the body have cells that can divide, so the body can essentially create new tissues to replace those that were lost, such as skin cells or bone cells.
But your brain has nerve cells, known as neurons, that do not divide. As such, it may be impossible to replace cells that were lost in a traumatic injury. The brain can achieve some level of healing by seeking new neural pathways, but this may never be 100 percent complete.
Your legal options
If you do have a traumatic brain injury that will have such a long-term impact, it is critical that you understand all the legal options you have at this time.