Brain injuries do not always heal as completely as people expect or as you’ll find with other types of injuries. Part of the reason for this is simply that the brain is a fragile organism, and even something that appears to be a relatively minor injury can actually be fairly severe. Additionally, medical knowledge about the brain is always increasing, but there are still going to be many things we don’t know and the doctors cannot treat properly.
But perhaps the biggest reason that the brain doesn’t heal is because neural cells generally can’t divide and regenerate. This is the tactic used by most of the other cells in someone’s body. For example, red blood cells are created within the bone marrow. If the skin gets cut, it can regenerate new skin cells and scar tissue to repair the damage. But your brain cannot do this.
How does the brain heal?
Instead of regenerating cells, the brain typically seeks out new neural pathways that can provide different skills and abilities. After an injury, healing happens as these pathways are discovered and created. But no new cells are being used during this time to allow this healing to continue.
What this means is that there are cases in which these neural pathways cannot be used or do not exist, and the brain has no other options to create cells and allow for complete healing. This is why the loss of some skills in a traumatic brain injury can become a permanent disability, or at least an ailment that someone has to live with for the rest of their life.
If you have suffered serious injuries, you may need to know how to seek financial compensation from those responsible.