A spinal cord injury can come from a host of accidents. Understanding a few points about these injuries can benefit the victims and their family members. One of the most important things to remember is that working closely with your medical team is a priority. The decisions they make regarding your care can have a big impact on how well you recover from the injury.
There are several factors that your medical team will consider when they are coming up with your treatment plan. These include things like the location of the injury and the severity.
When you suffer damage to the spinal cord, the part of the body that’s lower than the injury is impacted. This means that an injury higher in your neck will have a more global impact on your abilities than one that’s in your lower back. When your medical team is evaluating this, they are going to think about your ability to move your limbs, as well as how the injury will impact your internal organs.
The severity of the injury also plays a part in how well you can recover. Spinal cord injuries are either complete or incomplete. A complete injury means that you don’t have any feeling or function below the level of the injury. If you do have feeling or function below the injury, you have an incomplete injury.
Typically, a complete injury won’t heal as well as an incomplete one. This means you have a better chance of recovery if you have an incomplete one — but you will probably still experience some lifelong problem.
Spinal cord injury victims can choose to seek compensation for the damages they suffered because of another party’s negligence. Find out more about how to pursue a claim.
