In looking at the devastating damage to your car, one can only wonder how you survived the collision. But now, you must cope with a spinal injury.
You may have to relearn how to walk. And, in the more severe cases, you may have to become accustomed for the rest of your life to a motorized wheelchair. The effects of a spinal cord injury are difficult to shake and may take you months to recover from if you are fortunate enough.
Nerve damage, chronic pain and damage to the spinal cord
The force brought on by a serious motor vehicle crash may lead to the dislocation or fracturing of the vertebrae a well as the rupturing of ligaments that connect the vertebrae. Damage to the spine and spinal cord are possible.
Here are some outcomes resulting from a spinal injury:
- Whiplash: The severe impact of the car crash forced the spinal column into sudden and extreme bending movements. Injuries to bones, discs, muscles and tissues are likely.
- Damage to the lumbar spine: This is the lower back. Damage to the vertebrae and cushioned discs between the vertebrae are possible.
- Nerve damage: This often has ties to a spinal cord injury. While you may recover from temporary paralysis, the damage to the nerves in your arms, hands, legs and feet may require a more than a year for recovery.
- Chronic pain: In certain cases, the intense pain may affect a person’s mood, they way they function as well as their quality of life. Chronic pain affects 70% of the people who suffer a spinal cord injury.
- Spinal cord injury: Such a development often leads to loss of sensation, muscle weakness and loss of movement. With severe fractures of the vertebrae, fluid may accumulate or a blood clot may form, pressing against and impairing the spinal cord. In more severe cases, the spinal cord may be torn or severed, leading to permanent paralysis. A spinal cord injury can affect your breathing. Paralysis can lead to incontinence.
There is no hiding that fact that damage to the spine may result in a life-changing injury.
You deserve compensation
Another driver’s negligence has led to you experiencing months of recovery and rehabilitation due to a spinal injury. Your recovery time depends on the severity of the injury. With mounting medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering you have experienced, you deserve compensation.
