Brain injuries are unpredictable and may change many things about you in just moments. As an adult with a new brain injury, you should know that your recovery may not be the same as other people, even if you have similar injuries and are of a similar age. Brain injuries can take weeks, months or years to recover. Their healing is known to slow over time.
Brain injuries can affect your health and increase the likelihood of:
- Dementia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Cognitive decline
- Seizures
- Endocrine disorders
- Fatigue
- Headaches
Since a brain injury can potentially lead to these other conditions, it’s important that you seek care immediately after you’re hurt. After you do that, it’s vital that you continue on the treatment plan that you’re provided.
Initial treatments are focused on all that can be done to prevent cascading injuries in the initial 90 minutes following an injury, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be complications after that. Medical providers should be monitoring patients for changes in behavior, fatigue, seizures and other symptoms of a brain injury that do not decrease over time.
By providing good brain injury treatment early on after an injury, patients may have a better chance to return to work. Some may return to work slowly over time. When you suffer a brain injury, know that returning to work could be a goal you achieve later, but in the initial weeks and months, it’s best to focus on your recovery and to do as much as possible to regain your brain’s functionality.
Once you’ve begun the steps toward recovery, find out more about your potential right to compensation for your losses.