Spinal Cord Injury
Over 10,000 people in the US suffer a spinal
cord injury, also called SCI, each year. SCI is defined as
any damage to the spinal cord that results in loss of function
or mobility. Such injuries can be caused by trauma or disease
and can result in temporary or permanent loss of sensation,
loss of movement (paralysis), or loss of bowel or bladder control.
Auto accidents are the primary cause but violence related accidents
have been increasing steadily as a cause of SCI’s. Falls and sports accidents also cause
many SCI’s each year.
There are two types of injury, complete and incomplete. A complete
injury is one in which the victim has no sensation or voluntary
motor movement on either side of the body below the level of
the injury. If the victim has some feeling or partial movement,
it is called an incomplete injury.
Injuries are usually defined with reference
to the area of the spine affected. Nerves in the spine are
defined by the area of the vertebrae – an injury to the spine in the neck area
will affect the cervical vertebrae – injury to the nerves
at the fifth cervical vertebra is called a C-5 injury, for instance.
Below the neck are the thoracic vertebrae, so injuries there
are defined as T-1, etc. Then there are lumbar and sacral vertebrae.
Generally speaking, neck injuries will lead to paralysis of
all limbs (quadriplegia) while thoracic injuries cause paralysis
to the lower limbs only (paraplegia). Both areas have variations
in the amount of dysfunction, depending on the severity of the
injury. An incomplete cervical injury can leave the patient with
some hand use, while a complete injury at C-4 can require the
patient to be on a ventilator. Thoracic injuries can leave the
arms functional but interfere with walking, bowel and bladder
control, and sexual function. Other functions that can be affected
are blood pressure, body temperature, and pain levels.
A spinal cord injury usually involves swelling of the spinal
cord which affects the whole body. When the swelling goes down,
the patient may regain function months or years after the injury
but it is rare for all functioning to be recovered. Treatment
presently consists of stabilizing any broken vertebrae, maintaining
the patient, preventing movement to the injured area, and reducing
swelling. There is no cure for SCI but stem cell research has
shown some signs of being useful in the future.
What You Need To Know:
Insurance companies' obligations are to their stockholders and
policy holders, not to the people injured by their insured's
negligence. Insurance companies' desire to maximize their own
profits provides them with every motivation to try to deny your
claim or pay you the very minimum amount that they can get away
with. The insurance companies also have enormous advantages:
they have immense wealth, armies of experienced adjusters and
lawyers and years of experience reducing and denying claims.
At the Law Office of Stephen A. Burroughs,
our only obligation is to you, our client. We will use our experience
and every resource available to protect your interests, and we
will work hard to help you receive the full value for your case.
We will advise you every step of the way to help you avoid any
mistakes that could cost you money. There is no charge for attorney's
fees until you recover money for your personal injuries, and
we will also help you resolve your property damage claims for
no fee whatsoever. For assistance, call today at 1-877-300-3773, contact
us or submit
an free online case evaluation.
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