Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
A spinal cord injury is any injury to the spinal cord that causes a loss of function. A loss of function can include a loss of feeling or mobility issues. Most Miami spinal cord injuries are caused by trauma caused by violence, Miami car accidents, Miami slip and fall accidents, and other injuries. However, diseases such as polio can also cause spinal injuries. Spinal cord injuries can range widely, from a severed spinal cord that leaves someone almost entirely paralyzed to more mild injuries where there is a loss of feeling or some limited mobility.
Miami spinal cord injuries can in fact be separated into two types of injuries: incomplete injury and complete injury. In a complete spinal cord injury, the patient has no function and no feeling below the level of the injury. In these cases, all parts of the body under the injury site are affected. In an incomplete injury, some functioning exists below the injury. This means that the patient may have partial mobility and some sensation below the injury site. As more research is done into spinal cord injuries and as better after care is available for emergency spinal cord injuries, incomplete injuries are becoming more common. In part, this is because in many cases emergency rooms are able to stabilize a patient and offer immediate help that can prevent further injury when a patient is first admitted – something that was not available years ago.
The site where the injury occurs can also affect how patients recover after a Miami spinal cord injury. For example, patients with severe traumatic neck injuries may have quadriplegia while injuries above the C-4 cause so much damage that the patient may require a ventilator permanently. Those with C-5 injuries may lose control of their hands and wrists while those who have T-1 and C-7 injuries may have problems with finger and hand mobility. Patients with higher T injuries (T-1 through T-8) may have abdominal mobility affected.
Patients with severe Miami spinal cord injuries lose more than feeling and motor control. Many patients also suffer a wide range of other problems. For example, some individuals may experience sexual dysfunction or incontinence. Many patients also suffer from chronic pain, low blood pressure, no sweating below the injury site, and other problems. Some patients may lose motor control to the point where basic functions such as heart beat and breathing need to be aided by pacemakers, ventilators, and other medical devices. These additional issues affect not only a patient’s quality of life but also the total costs of a patient’s injuries.
Across the US, 10 000 new patients sustain spinal cord injuries each year and there are currently about 450 000 people living with severe spinal cord injuries across the country. Over a third (36%) of spinal cord injuries occur due to car crashes and traffic accidents while 21.2% occur due to falls and 28.9% occur due to violence (such as gunshot wounds).
If you have sustained a Miami spinal cord injury, it is important to seek all the resources available. The costs of a spinal cord injury can be hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or millions of dollars over a lifetime, and in many cases these injuries affect job potential as well. If your injury was caused by someone’s negligence or a wrongful act, contact the Flaxman Law Group to arrange a free accident consultation to discuss all your options and rights.