A spinal cord injury refers to injuries that damage the cells in the spine or the nerve tracts that send signals up and down the spinal cord.
The general cause for spinal cord injuries are trauma or impact on the back. This is usually caused by accidents.
In fact, 47 percent of trauma which induced spinal cord injuries is caused by road accidents, 24 percent by slip and fall accidents, 14 percent by way of violence and 9 percent from sports accidents.
Trauma in the spine can be in the form of:
• Contusion – Refers to bruised tissues
• Compression – Refers to injuries that are caused by excessive pressure on the backbone
• Laceration – Refers to torn or severed nerve fibers
• Central Cord Syndrome – damage to a specific region
A neurosurgeon or an orthopedic surgeon are the most qualified to diagnose a spinal cord injury.
In fact, there are currently about 250,000 Americans living with paralysis as a result of an accident.
There are two types of paralysis that are usually connected with spinal cord injuries, they are:
• Paraplegia – This type of paralysis refers to the loss of muscle function in the lower extremities of the body. Most paraplegia victims are dependent on wheelchairs to move around, although some are able to walk again to some degree (usually with a cane or walking stick) after some physical therapy or rehabilitation sessions.
• Quadriplegia – This type of paralysis refers to the loss of muscle function to all limbs (legs and arms). Not a lot of people know that quadriplegia does not only affect the limbs but also the torso which sometimes results to difficulty in performing automatic functions like breathing and digesting.
Spinal cord injuries affect a person in various ways. Aside from the loss of muscle functions as a result of paralysis, spinal cord injury victims could also:
• Suffer from bowel and bladder dysfunction. This includes infections in the bladder and bowel incontinence.
• Suffer from sexual dysfunction and impotence.
• Suffer difficulty in breathing and may need assistance from ventilator machines.
• Suffer from inability to regulate blood pressure, heart rate and sweating.
• Suffer from muscle atrophy.
Spinal cord injuries are one of the most expensive injuries to treat. Depending on the severity, the victim will have to go through long series of physical therapy to rehabilitate muscles affected or might even need surgery.
A quadriplegic usually spends an average of $741,425 on the first year of the accident and about $132,807 in the next years.
A paraplegic meanwhile spends about $270,913 on the first year and then $27,568 in the years after.
Those are staggering numbers.
That is why it is very important for the victim to receive spinal cord injury compensation either from his or the liable party’s insurance company.
To help the victim in pursuing his/her deserved compensation for his/her spinal cord injuries, the best move would be to seek advice from an experienced spinal cord injury attorney.
Our
personal injury lawyers are experienced in handling cases involving
spinal cord injuries and its compensation. For consultation, log on to our website and avail of our free case evaluation.
