How Does A Spinal Cord Injury Affect Your Life?

The spinal cord sends and receives signals between the brain and the rest of the body. When it’s damaged, victims can experience permanent changes in strength, sensation, movement, and other bodily functions below the site of the injury. Every year in America, about 18,000 people are affected by spinal cord injuries.

What Are The Different Types Of Spinal Cord Injuries?

Spinal cord injuries can be categorized by type, level, and severity and cause different kinds of impairment.

Types:

• Cervical: Occurs in the neck and can cause the loss of most or all bodily functions.
• Thoracic: Occurs in the mid-section of the back and can affect muscles in the chest and back, multiple organ systems, and the legs.
• Lumbar: Occurs in the lower back and affects functioning below the waist.
• Sacral: Occurs at or below the hips and can affect sensation and functioning of the hips, back of the thighs, buttocks, pelvic organs, and parts of the legs and feet.

Levels:

• Tetraplegia (sometimes called quadriplegia): Full or partial paralysis of both arms and legs.
• Paraplegia: Full or partial loss of function of the trunk and both legs, but not the arms.

Severity:

• Complete: All sensory and motor functions are completely (and typically permanently) lost.
• Incomplete: Only some sensory or motor functions are affected.

Spinal cord injuries can have many causes, but the most common by far is motor vehicle accidents, which account for almost half of all spinal cord injuries each year. Other causes include falls, acts of violence, sports/recreational activities (like diving in shallow water), diseases, and infections. The true severity of a spinal injury may be clear immediately or may not be fully understood for days or weeks as bleeding, swelling, and fluid accumulation around and in the spinal cord impair healing and continue to cause additional damage.

Can You Have A Full Recovery From A Spinal Cord Injury?

Unlike other cells in the body, most nerve cells cannot regrow after an injury. This means that there is no cure for a spinal cord injury, and full recovery is very rare. However, prompt and proper treatment immediately after an injury may prevent additional, irreversible damage from occurring. Therapy can also help many victims to recover some degree of function.

How Do Spinal Cord Injuries Affect Quality Of Life?

While most spinal cord injuries are permanent, many people can go on to live independent lives with proper treatment and therapy. That said, most people with spinal injuries have to deal with lifelong problems that can severely affect their quality of life.

Losing the use of your arms and/or legs is life-altering, but even when the severity of the injury is categorized as incomplete, and someone appears “normal,” they can still have issues such as:

• Impaired bladder and/or bowel control
• Injuries or infections that go unnoticed due to a loss of sensation
• Poor circulatory control, which can result in dangerously low or high blood pressure, swelling in the extremities, and potentially deadly blood clots
• Difficulty breathing and/or coughing, increasing the risk of pneumonia
• Reduced overall fitness and wellness due to limited mobility
• Impaired sexual health
• Chronic pain
• Depression

Someone Else’s Negligence Caused My Spinal Cord Injury. What Are My Options?

When a traumatic event results in a spinal cord injury, the effect on a victim’s life can be catastrophic. Medical treatment and physical therapy can be cost-prohibitive. Many homes aren’t wheelchair accessible, and remodeling or other home modifications are often necessary. The pain and suffering from the injury itself, as well as future pain and suffering from a reduced quality of life, can be severe. Relationships can suffer when sexual function is affected and spouses become caregivers rather than partners. Many people also lose the ability to work or need to find different work that they can do with their new limitations.

Victims are entitled to fair compensation for all of these things when someone else’s negligence results in a spinal cord injury. Choosing the right lawyer to handle your case can make all the difference. Look for someone experienced in personal injury cases and willing to fight for you and your family, but don’t wait too long. Generally speaking, Pennsylvania only allows you to file a case within two years of your injury, so don’t delay.

Why Choose Ross Feller Casey?

When someone’s negligence causes catastrophic injury, such as permanent damage to the spinal cord, we believe victims deserve to be compensated for what they’ve been forced to endure, as well as for any future hardships they may encounter as a result of their injury. The legal team at Ross Feller Casey has a nationally recognized reputation for obtaining record-setting results for the catastrophically injured, including numerous cases involving spinal cord injuries. We have won over $3 billion for our clients, including hundreds of multimillion-dollar recoveries, and we’re ready to put that experience to work for you. Contact us today for a free consultation.