Many accidents can lead to a spinal cord injury. Car wrecks tragically often lead to these devastating and traumatic changes in a person’s health. When you sustain a spinal cord injury, you have to take a look into ramifications for the future. There are several points that can have an impact, so you should work closely with your medical team to find out what you can do to improve the outlook.
The spinal cord is a group of nerves that transmits messages to and from the brain and rest of the body. When this is damaged, the brain can’t relay those messages, so issues like paralysis and decreased movement in the body can occur.
Scope of the issue
More than 250,000 people in this country live with some form of a spinal cord injury. Around 12,000 new cases are reported annually. While many will involve paraplegia, quadriplegia, and other forms of paralysis, some have other problems.
It is difficult to determine exactly how a spinal cord injury is going to impact a patient because everyone heals differently. In the days immediately following the injury, the person might have more limitations than what they will have over time. This is because of spinal shock.
The initial days after the accident
When the spinal cord is damaged, a chain reaction begins. One thing that happens is that the damaged area becomes inflamed, which can exacerbate the effects of the injury. A chemical reaction also takes place. This can lead to cell death in the impacted area, which can also make the damage worse.
As the spinal cord begins to heal after the accident, the abilities a person lost at the time of the injury might begin to return. This can be a complete return, but often, it is only partial.
Long-term outlook
People who suffer this type of injury will usually need considerable medical care and therapy, which can be costly. Personal care assistance can also be necessary. The goal is to help people with spinal cord damage heal as much as possible and to regain as much independence as they can. Sometimes, even basic skills will have to be relearned. It might also be necessary for them to learn how to make adaptations to handle certain tasks formerly automatic.
When the cause of the injury is the negligence of another person, the victim is encouraged to seek compensation. This can offset the considerable expenses due to the injury. The process isn’t swift, but you should take quick action if you are in this position.
