Spinal cord injuries are much more serious than back injuries. A person who suffers from a spinal cord injury can face lifelong health problems. Many of these ultimately cause problems with their ability to support themselves.
A spinal cord injury can stem from many incidents, including car wrecks, slip-and-fall events, and construction accidents. One of the most important things to remember is that proper medical care is critical after one of these injuries. Swift medical care can often help the person to have the best outcome, but there’s a good chance that the effects will still be devastating.
What types of effects can spinal cord injuries have on the victim?
The location and severity of the spinal cord injury determine the exact effects a person has to deal with. Injuries that are lower on the spinal cord will affect a smaller portion of the body because the effects of the injury are always lower than the damaged area. Complete injuries, which means the nerves are fully severed, are more serious than incomplete injuries, which involve only partial nerve severing. Neither, however, are without
Some of the possible effects of a spinal cord injury include:
- Paralysis of limbs and organs
- Changes in metabolism
- Difficulty breathing
- Altered sense of feeling in the affected areas
- Inability to fully control muscle movement
- Changes in heart rate
- Incontinence of the bladder or bowels
The reality is that, except for complete paralysis, you may not really know the full consequences of a spinal cord injury until after you’ve had some time to recover. The financial consequences can be as severe as the physical ones, so make sure you learn everything you can about your right to ask for compensation when the injury is due to another party’s negligence.