Effects of Damage to the Spinal Cord

"The Facts

The spinal cord connects the brain and the peripheral nervous system. It serves as a pathway of information through which the brain processes nerve impulses responsible for sensation and movement.

How it Happens

The vertebrae which make up the spinal column surrounds the spinal cord giving it protection as well support to the body. In the event of car crashes, motorcycle accidents, rollovers, and other vehicular accidents, trauma may occur and the spinal cord may be subjected to excessive stretching, laceration, bruising or severance. If these actions would break any of the vertebrae and the spinal cord would be affected, this would constitute spinal cord injury. A serious fracture in the spine can cause spinal cord injury, paralysis and even death.

Effects

The damage to the spinal cord has severe consequences. The spinal cord injury level may vary depending on the location of the spinal cord segment affected. Victims may not be able to feel anything in some parts of their body and would not be able to control some of their limbs. However, in more serious cases, there is permanence in the loss of sensation and motor control in the body. Aside from these, it has numerous other complications like bladder infection, bone and muscle degeneration, inability of the body to regulate the heart rate and blood pressure, gall bladder and renal stones. More often, victims also suffer from clinical depression as a result of the chronic pain they experience.

The Aftermath

In numerous cases, the incidence of spinal cord injury is prevalent in vehicular collisions. Persons who are involved in these accidents are very unfortunate. While they are able to survive the tragedy, their lives are almost ruined. Being deprived of the use of your own limbs is a fate far worse than death as you are reminded forever of incident; much more not being able to do what you are used to do. Priorities are now altered to conform to a less active state of existence.


The Issues

Of greater concern is to how you would go on living. All of us greatly depended on our body on almost everything. If the body is incapacitated, how are we going to pursue what we wanted in our life? How are we going to feed ourselves? What should be done in order to bring back all the things that we lost?

Somehow, the relief lies in the form of medical compensation which you may get through an attorney specializing in spinal cord injuries. There are many medical technicalities involved and it is important that a person skilled in dealing with medical issues should look into it. Not only will you be compensated for hospitalization and outpatient medical care but also for the lost income you may potentially earn had not such traumatic event took place.

If you live in Los Angeles and you or you know anyone who is a spinal cord injury victim, feel free to get in touch with a spinal cord injury attorney for help in this kind of cases."