It’s estimated that there are over 200,000 Americans who live with spinal cord injuries, which is life-changing for the individual who’s affected as well as their whole family.
A spinal cord injury can be devastating for not only a person’s physical health but also their mental health. A spinal cord injury can cause permanent changes to your strength, loss of sensation in your body, and paralysis. This kind of severe injury is often caused by a traumatic incident such as a bad fall, a sports injury, car accident, gunshot wound, a knife wound, or anything else that may fracture, dislocate, or compress your spinal cord.
When you or a loved one is suffering from a spinal cord injury, it can often feel debilitating and frustrating to know where to go from here. What are some of the complications you can expect? How do you gain a sense of normalcy?
Life after a spinal cord injury isn’t the same for everyone, but there are a few things that may occur if you’re dealing with this life-altering condition.
CHANGES IN YOUR BODY
After a spinal cord injury, there may be a lot of changes in the way that your body operates from the way it did before. For example, you may find that you no longer have bladder control, bowel control, and you may have lost part or all of your skin sensation. Individuals who have a spinal cord injury may also have problems with circulation (low blood pressure and swelling of the extremities) as well as issues with their respiratory system (difficulty breathing and intense coughing). A spinal cord injury can also cause spasticity or flaccidity in the muscles as well as changes in sexual health (changes in erections and the ability to perform normal sexual functions).
DEPRESSION
In addition to a variety of physical complications, individuals with a spinal cord injury are also likely to suffer from depression. A spinal cord injury is life-changing—those who are living with the physical effects of a spinal cord injury often must re-learn how to live their everyday lives. It can be very difficult to reconcile with the fact that their life is completely different from the way it was.
REHABILITATION
Unfortunately, in most cases, a spinal cord injury is incurable. But after the initial emergency care, a patient will receive a lot of physical and occupational therapy so that they can learn how to use assistive devices.
A spinal cord injury isn’t just a life-changing diagnosis—someone may be liable for the injury. If you or a loved one has received a spinal cord injury due to a car accident, an assault, a defective product, or a slip and fall incident in Georgia, you or they may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses such as hospital stays and physical therapy as well as lost wages due to the injury.
To determine if legal action is in your best interest, CLICK HERE to CONTACT US, or call at (404) 948-3571.
