How Can You Improve Recovery After a Brain Injury?

A brain injury can disrupt your ability to live a normal life in an instant. This type of injury affects how the brain works and can result in long-term, permanent effects.

According to the Brain Trauma Foundation, every year, approximately 2.5 million people sustain a brain injury. If you recently sustained one of these injuries and are currently in recovery, the following tips may help you improve the rate at which you recover.

Rest as much as possible

In the days and weeks following your brain injury, try not to do too much before you are ready. Instead, focus on getting as much rest as possible. Commit to getting enough sleep at night and if you feel fatigued during the day, take a nap.

Return to your routine gradually

Overdoing it too quickly after your accident can slow down the recovery process. Consider returning to work part-time, asking for help around the house and finding other ways to minimize your responsibilities on a daily basis as you work on recovering.

Write down tasks and information

It may be difficult for you to retain new information as you recover from a brain injury. If you need to remember to do something or need to recall information about a certain event, write it down instead of trying to rely on your memory.

How quickly you recover from a brain injury depends on many different factors, including the severity of the injury. While some symptoms of a brain injury will show up immediately after the accident, others could take days or even weeks to appear.