Spinal injuries are serious conditions which can be life-changing events. The spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the central nervous system and allows for the transmission of information throughout the body. From involuntary actions such as telling the heart to beat and lungs to expand and contract to motion and mobility to the sense of touch throughout the body, the spinal cord is crucial in controlling the majority of bodily functions.
Contacting a spinal cord injury lawyer is an important course of action to take if you have been injured in Fort Mill, SC.
How Do Spinal Cord Injuries Occur?
Spinal injuries occur when trauma kinks, severs, or crushes the spinal cord within the protective covering of the spinal column. At the very least, an injury of this type can pinch nerves, cause swelling, and even fractures of the spine. Spinal injuries can be caused by a number of different kinds of accidents:
- Slip and fall accidents
- Vehicle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Diving/swimming injuries
- Work-related injuries
- Falling from height
Diagnosis for Spinal Injuries
A doctor is necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of spinal injuries. Treatment usually requires that the spine be immobilized, usually with the aid of traction that prevents movement while the injured person is allowed time to heal. Serious cases may require extensive hospitalization and surgeries to reconstruct damaged nerve tissue or fuse vertebrae together to allow the body to heal.
Here are some symptoms of spinal injury. If you experience any of these after a motor vehicle accident, seek immediate medical assistance:
- Stiffness in neck or extremities
- Pins and needles sensation in fingers
- Nerve pain in extremities, such as feet, hands, or legs
- Paralysis (full or partial)
- Difficulty breathing
- Persistent ringing in ears (tinnitus)
- Shooting pain in the neck or back
- Numbness in extremities
- Vertigo
- Difficulties seeing
- Sluggishness and sleeping too much
- Blood in spinal fluid
Diagnosing Spinal Cord Injuries
A doctor can run a wide variety of tests to diagnose spinal injuries. A physical examination after an accident can be used to determine if your range of motion has been affected, and later check-ups can determine whether your problems were due to post-trauma swelling or are a result of a spinal injury.
Imaging technology such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans are used to see what damage may have been done to your spine. Medication can lessen the pain and reduce swelling, whereas surgery might be needed to repair injured bone, muscle, and even blood vessels.
How to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal can be treated in a variety of different ways. Less serious injuries can be treated by immobilizing the area to allow the body’s natural healing factor to repair the injury. As with bone breaks and other injuries, splinting the area with a neck brace can limit movement and prevent further injury of the neck. It may take several weeks to months of traction to allow the body to heal in this way.
Surgery is another option, in which damaged vertebrae might be fused together with screws or metal plates. Serious injuries may be irreparable, resulting in paraplegia, quadriplegia, or death.
Long-Term Impacts of a Spinal Cord Injury
Permanent disability, chronic pain, loss of motor function, and having to deal with the aftermath of accessibility and having a life-changing event affect the life of not you and your loved ones is a main concern. Here are some results of an injury and how it might impact your life.
- The expense of emergency medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Future income
- Replacement and repair costs to property
- Physical therapy
- Psychological treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
- Pain management
- Pain and suffering
- Permanent disability (Partial or complete paralysis)
Can spinal cord injuries heal?
Left untreated, a spinal cord injury can become very serious. You could develop chronic pain and experience degradation of damaged areas of your spine, and nerve damage, which will affect survivors’ quality of life. Over time, survivors might even become paralyzed or develop infections such as meningitis which can even be fatal.
Even with immediate medical treatment, a spinal cord injury might leave you or a loved one with chronic pain, and permanent injuries. Some may not heal entirely, though many people have made full recoveries with proper treatment over long periods of time.
Differences Between Complete and Incomplete SCIs
Complete spinal cord injuries are characteristic of severe damage to the spinal cord, with a highly unlikely prognosis for complete recovery. These sorts of injuries often result in full or partial paralysis, often determined by the location of the damage done to the spinal cord. Cervical vertebrae injuries often result in paralysis and loss of mobility in arms and legs, whereas lumbar injuries are typical of paraplegia and loss of sensation in the lower body.
Incomplete SCIs are when the cord has been crushed or damaged but not severed or damaged to the point beyond complete recovery. These sorts of injuries may result in temporary paralysis, determined by the location of the injury.
How Much Can You Settle for with a Spinal Cord Injury?
Since damages can vary in cost from injury to injury, there is no firm dollar amount you can assign to a spinal injury. Damages can depend on a lot of factors.
- Hospitalization costs
- Loss of income and future income
- Pain and suffering
- Costs of surgery
- Costs of rehabilitation
- Costs of infrastructure for accessibility
- Hiring in-home care
- Therapy expenses
- Pain management
- Vocational rehabilitation costs
Hire a Fort Mill Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Hiring an attorney can take a lot of stress out of your life and allows you to concentrate on the serious business of healing and dealing with any life changes that are a result of your injuries. If you have been involved in an accident and are healing from a spinal cord injury, contact us today at Elrod Pope Law Firm for a free consultation.
Hiring an attorney typically yields higher settlement amounts than accepting the initial offer presented by an insurer. Settlements could range in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars and beyond. Your rights are important, and a skilled attorney can be the best tool at your disposal to protect those rights.
