What are the effects and costs of spinal cord injury?

When there is an accident in Reno, there is the chance that there will be serious injuries and fatalities. Short of death, one of the worst injuries that a person can suffer is a spinal cord injury. Not only does this type of injury leave a person in need of rehabilitation with the potential for paralysis, but it will cost a significant amount of money for treatment. In addition, the family of the injured person will have to face the reality of caring for someone who needs constant attention. Understanding the spine, how it functions and the different kinds of injuries that can damage it is important to those who deal with this.

There are two different kinds of spinal cord injury with a complete injury and an incomplete injury. If there is a complete spinal cord injury, the victim will not have any function beneath the portion of the spine that was injured. Both sides of the body will be affected. With an incomplete injury, there can be some level of function below where the injury occurred. One limb might be able to move more than the other limb. There could be feeling in certain parts of the body.

There are many ways in which a person can suffer a spinal cord injury. It could be during participation in sports, because of a fall, a car crash or while taking part in numerous physical activities. There are an innumerable number of ways in which a spinal cord injury can occur and, in many cases, it is due to negligence on the part of another.

There are three prominent classifications of the aftereffects of this injury — quadriplegia, paraplegia and triplegia. Quadriplegia means full paralysis. Paraplegia means loss of movement in the lower part of the body. Triplegia can mean loss of movement in one arm and both legs.

Depending on the severity of the injury, a person’s rehabilitation success will vary. Those with severe enough damage will likely be limited in their progress. For them, paralysis is a real possibility as is the need for long-term medical care along with the accompanying costs both financially and emotionally.

When there is an accident that causes a spinal cord injury and it is believed to be the fault of another, discussing the matter with a legal professional experienced in personal injury cases can help with being compensated.

Source: John Hopkins Medicine, ” Spinal Cord Injury ,” accessed on June 2, 2015