When my son suffered a concussion two years ago, his doctor told him the key was rest. For this then 11 year old, that meant laying down, with no reading, no television, and no video games. Just rest.
Rest has long been thought to help following a brain injury, but recently, a new study came out explaining why that was the right advice.
The study, which examined trauma in the brains of mice, found that when there is single, mild incident, the mice lose 10-15 percent of their neuronal connections in the brain, but there was no accompanying cell death. When the mice rested for three days, almost all of the connections came back, healing the brain.
However, the study found that without rest, when additional events occur, the neuronal connections don’t heal and can become permanent. Thus, the prescribed rest is critical to offer the brain an opportunity for any mild injuries to heal.
One issue with the study is that it is only based on very mild injuries. In more severe cases, a one-time incident can cause cell death and have long-term consequences even if the victim tries to take the rest needed or prescribed.
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury as a result the conduct of someone else, please call us at (512)476-4944 so we can help you.
