A traumatic brain injury is one of the most serious injuries someone can incur, with many TBIs resulting in severe symptoms. In the past, people who sustained a traumatic brain injury received a poor prognosis with no chance of recovery, but science is now showing that the brain may be able to heal itself after a TBI.
How Can the Brain Restore Injured Tissue?
The brain was once considered to be a “nonrenewable organ” that could not heal after it sustained an injury. This thought came from the finite number of brain cells we have and their tendency to diminish as we age.
In recent years, science has shown that this may not be the case. Studies have shown that the brain may be able to heal and rewire itself throughout your life.
Our brains are shaped by an accumulation of experiences, feelings, thoughts, and memories. All of these encourage different pathways to form and other pathways to become dormant. This happens because the neurons or cells in your brain rely on pathways to deliver messages throughout your body.
All of your collective experiences contribute to the strength and functioning of these pathways. When you sustain a traumatic brain injury from severe head trauma, stroke, or other cause, these pathways can become damaged. Communication between your brain and other areas of the body can become strained or stop altogether, leading to difficulty with everyday activities like talking, walking, and more.
This is where the brain’s ability to restore and heal itself comes in. Through a process called neuroplasticity, your brain can create new pathways and rewire the communication between your neurons and the rest of your body.
What Is Neuroplasticity?
Have you ever been traveling and encountered a detour due to a road blockage? The road you want to take may not be available, but the alternate route will still get you to your destination. This is a simplified way of explaining neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity allows the brain to create alternative pathways when the previous pathways have become disabled. The new pathway might take a little longer than the previous one, but it will still yield the same result.
You can encourage the neuroplasticity process or stimulate the creation of new pathways in the brain by promoting the neuroplasticity process through repetitive actions and continuous practice.
For example, a TBI patient who has trouble with leg movement may practice daily leg exercises to create a new neural pathway for leg movement. People with difficulty speaking after a stroke may do daily speech therapy to strengthen new pathways for speech.
While traumatic brain injury is still a grave and serious concern, advancements in modern medicine and research show that prognosis may not be as poor as it once was. With the process of neuroplasticity, your brain may be able to heal itself and restore vital connections after a TBI.
Some patients have an opportunity to explore the potential healing with regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy. Discuss with a qualified provider to learn what may be options to discover in your healing process.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.