Catastrophic injuries are injuries that have a major, life-changing effect on you. One of the most serious injuries to fall into this category is a spinal cord injury.
Spinal cord injuries come in two forms, those that are complete (severed) and those that are incomplete. A complete injury cuts through the spinal cord, making any area below the point of injury disabled. For example, if your injury is in the region of the mid-back, you may have no feeling below that point and trouble with the bowel or bladder.
An incomplete injury may impact the spinal cord but not completely prevent brain signals from reaching below the point of the injury. People with incomplete injuries might have weakness in the limbs, trouble breathing or other symptoms.
In both cases, patients may go through surgery, require long-term medications and need physical therapy, occupational therapy or other medical treatments to help them adjust to their conditions.
What should you do if you suffer a catastrophic spinal injury?
Catastrophic spinal injuries need to be treated by a medical professional as soon as possible. The goal of any medical provider will be to help you retain feeling, movement and strength in your limbs and organs when possible. It is incredibly difficult to reverse damage done to the spinal cord, but with anti-inflammatory medications and other treatments, further damage may be able to be prevented.
Our website has more on spinal cord injuries and why you need to have strong legal support after suffering a spinal injury. With the right help, you can pursue compensation that helps you seek out the best care for your injury.