A traumatic brain injury is a serious ailment that can have a lifelong impact on its victims. There are a number of circumstances that can lead to this injury, including car accidents, sports injuries and falls, but any trauma to the head is liable to cause a TBI. If you experience symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, amnesia and difficulty communicating, you should see a doctor immediately in case you have a TBI.
You might be wondering how long it takes a TBI to fully heal. There is no straightforward answer to this question, but the following information can help you better understand what to expect from your recovery.
The first six months
According to Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center, you are likely to improve greatly during the first six months after the accident that caused your injury. Your recovery may seem rapid, or at least steady.
Ongoing recovery
In the past, doctors thought that their patients’ recovery would stall out after about a year. However, now doctors expect most people to continue their significant improvements for around two years, although perhaps not as quickly as the recovery typically experienced in the first six months.
At the two-year point
Recovery does not end after two years, but at that point, people may expect their condition to stabilize. Research provides encouraging statistics for people who received the proper level of medical care and went through rehabilitation for their moderate to severe brain injuries.
Data indicates that by the end of the first two years, 93 percent of victims will have returned home to live, although nearly two-thirds will live either with a significant other or with their parents. Many people are able to maintain or attain gainful employment by the two-year mark, as well, with statistics indicating that around one-third of victims work, and more than half are either unemployed or retired. Thirty-four percent of victims need some level of supervision or assistance with their daily life.
