Your spinal cord is a vital structure that allows your brain to send signals throughout your body to control movement, breathing and senses of touch and feel. This essential bundle of nerves and fibers extends down your back, between your brain stem and your tail bone. It’s protected by your spinal column, which is constructed predominantly of hard bone vertebrae and soft tissue membranes. Injury to this area can sever, crush, bruise, constrict or otherwise damage your spinal cord and its all -important nerves. Spinal cord injury can have significant consequences, including paralysis.
Auto Accidents and Spinal Cord Injuries
Though there are a number of ways to injure your spinal cord, automobile accidents lead the pack. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center identified car, truck, bus, motorcycle and other vehicular accidents as the leading cause of spinal cord injuries. They accounted for 39.08 percent of these injuries between September 2005 and March 2015. The impact of a collision can crush, dislocate, fracture or even sever the spinal cord. There may be fluid accumulation in the spinal column, internal bleeding, inflammation and swelling due to the trauma. This creates damage that may range from minor to catastrophic. Understandably, car accidents involving semi trucks typically cause severe damage, due to the massive size and weight of a big truck. Motorcycle accidents may be particularly risky as well because the bike offers very little protection to the rider. However, any vehicular collision has the potential to cause severe and long-lasting damage to the spinal cord.
Potential Complications from Spinal Cord Injury
The after-effects of spinal cord injury may significantly damage your quality of life and impact you physically, mentally and psychologically. It can wreck havoc with family and other personal relationships, and lead to loss of income. Serious cases may require medical care for life. Some potential complications and side effects include many of the following.
- Loss of bowel and bladder control
- Circulatory problems
- Muscle loss
- Respiratory issues
- Problems with sexual function and fertility
- Chronic Pain
- Loss of or diminished skin sensation
- Depression
With these wide ranging issues and effects, the need for maximum financial compensation to cover your medical bills, treatment, wage replacement and non-economic damages is crucial. Advancements are made in the field of spinal cord damage research regularly, and access to new treatments and approaches can be vital. For these and many other reasons, it is important that you seek the services of a knowledgeable California personal injury lawyer when you suffered spinal cord injury or other damages in a vehicle collision. Your attorney is familiar with the associated damages, requirements and methods of proof needed to seek the compensation you are due to help you with your injury and improve your quality of life.
Sources: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-cord-injury/basics/definition/con-20023837, http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s2/chapter03.html, https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/PublicDocuments/fact_sheets/Recent%20trends%20in%20causes%20of%20SCI.pdf