Yes. Depending on the severity of the brain injury and damage suffered, you can heal a damaged brain with targeted treatment, surgery, medications, rehabilitation, and self-care.
Mild Brain Damage
If you have suffered a minor brain injury, usually, your brain will heal on its own with rest and over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and pain medications. These patients should get plenty of sleep, rest during the day, and slowly increase their activity. They should avoid any use of alcohol, drugs, or caffeine. Eating healthy foods and drinking plenty of water will also help restore their health.
Driving a car, riding a bike, or operating machinery should only be done with a doctor’s approval soon after a head injury, even with only minor damage to the brain. Unfortunately, those patients with mild brain damage should also refrain from thinking or concentrating heavily, like playing video games or doing their finances. This can be frustrating, but remind the patient that healing takes time, and brain damage can take months or years to resolve.
Medications
For those who suffer from more severe brain damage, medication might limit secondary damage to the brain immediately after a brain injury. Some of the medications that may help heal a damaged brain may include diuretics which reduce the amount of fluid in the brain and pressure inside the brain. In addition, coma-inducing drugs will allow a brain to heal faster because a comatose brain needs less oxygen to function.
Surgery
Again, in cases of severe brain damage, surgery may be necessary. Surgery may correct or address the following problems after a brain injury:
- Removal of hematomas (clotted blood).
- Repair of skull fractures.
- Stopping any bleeding in the brain.
- Creating an opening window in the skull to relieve pressure.
These complex operations should only get performed by skilled, experienced neurosurgeons. This type of surgery is high-risk and can cause permanent, devastating impairment if errors or complications occur during the operation or the post-surgical stage.
Rehabilitation
Almost everyone who has more than a mild case of brain damage will need some rehabilitation to heal a damaged brain. Therapy may begin in the hospital and then continue in either an inpatient rehabilitation unit, a residential treatment facility, or an outpatient facility. Some rehabilitation specialists may include the following:
- Physical therapist
- Occupational therapist
- Speech and language pathologist
- Neuropsychologist
- Social work or case manager
- Rehabilitation nurse
- Traumatic brain injury nurse specialist
- Recreational therapist
- Vocational counselor
All these rehabilitation specialists can work together to coordinate a plan of care to heal a brain injury over time, and help provide opportunities to those who have suffered from brain damage.
Recoverable Compensation for Brain Damage that Resulted from Someone Else’s Negligence
If you or a loved one suffered mild, moderate, or severe brain damage that was someone else’s fault, you might be able to seek financial compensation to help with your medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and disability.
Some of the common categories of money damages people seek in a brain injury case that was the result of someone else’s carelessness include:
- Past medical expenses. Any reasonable healthcare expenses you incurred to treat your wounds and try to recuperate from your injuries can be a part of your claim. For example, the ambulance, trauma center, doctors, hospital, operations, and prescription drugs are often included in these claims.
- Rehabilitation facility. After a significant traumatic brain injury (TBI), many people spend time trying to get their brain healthy again and relearning tasks of daily living or coping techniques for lost functions.
- Long-term care. After a catastrophic brain injury, the individual might need daily assistance with medical treatments and personal care.
- Future medical costs. Your doctor might anticipate that you will need future healthcare services because of the harm to your brain.
- Lost wages. People often have to recuperate as an inpatient or at home after a head injury. If you missed paychecks, that lost income could get added to your claim.
- Decreased future income. Because the brain is the “control center” of the body, damage to the brain can cause lasting impairment. If your ongoing challenges with functions like coordination, thinking, memory, walking, talking, or other things make you earn less money than before, that financial loss could be a part of your injury claim.
- Pain and suffering. You could seek compensation for the physical discomfort, emotional distress, and inconvenience of the accident and your injuries.
- Other intangible losses. People often experience chronic depression, anxiety, mood or personality changes, or loss of enjoyment of life after a head injury. If we can attribute these things to your injury, we can add them to your claim.
These are only a few examples of the types of losses for which a person might seek compensation from the at-fault party after a head injury. If your close relative died because of a brain injury, we might be able to file a wrongful death claim.
Factors That Can Affect Your Right to Compensation for a Brain Injury
The dollar value of your injury claim is not determined at the moment of the accident that injured you. Things can happen after the fact that can impact your financial recovery. For example:
- How well you eventually heal from the damage to your brain
- The expense of the medical care you needed
- The invasiveness of the healthcare procedures used
- The at-fault party’s liability insurance policy limits
- The percentage of fault assigned to you and the other party
- The extent to which the damage to your brain changed your life
Also, if your claim does not settle before the deadline (four years for personal injury in Florida Statutes § 95.11(3)(a)) and two years for a wrongful death case under Florida Statutes § 95.11(4)(d), you will have to file a lawsuit to preserve your right to seek any compensation from the negligent party.
Brains Can Be Healed
Brains are very flexible and adaptable and remain so from childhood through adulthood. Research is proving more and more promising ways to rewire our brains to heal even after severe brain trauma and damage. Those with brain injuries relearn skills such as walking, talking, and thinking processes by strengthening white matter connections in the brain.
Contact The Law Offices Of Anidjar & Levine
If you were involved in an accident due to someone else’s negligence and suffered a brain injury in Fort Lauderdale, contact the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine. Our brain injury lawyers in Fort Lauderdale can help you determine whether you have the right to receive compensation for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. We can assist you in understanding your options, navigate the legal process, and even represent you in court to ensure you are awarded the damages you deserve to get your life back on track.
