North Dakota Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
Spinal Cord Injury Statistics
Understanding the how common spinal cord injuries are in the U.S. can help shed light on the severity of the problem and the need for legal intervention when someone negligently causes another to suffer. Every year in the U.S. there are around 15,000 reported serious spinal cord injuries, with about 10,000 of those people ending up paralyzed. On average, patients stay in rehabilitation for 31 days after their accident and spend between $550,000 and $1,123,000 in their first year of being a paraplegic or quadriplegic.
The estimated number of people currently living with a spinal cord injury in the U.S. is approximately 249,000 to 363,000 people. On average, people who suffer a spinal cord injury are generally between 29 and 43 years of age, with the age at time of injury slightly increasing over time. Nearly 78% of those who suffer a spinal cord injury are male.
As you can imagine, this kind of financial cost can create serious strain on individuals and families, especially when they suffer these injuries as a result of negligence or deliberate disregard for human safety.
Types of Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries fall into two separate categories, complete and incomplete. Complete spinal cord injuries tend to be more serious, and usually means that the entire width of the spine in one area has been affected. This means that the victim won’t have any muscle control or sensation in the damaged area of the spine.
Incomplete spinal cord injuries are still very serious, but the only difference is that they don’t affect the entire width of the spine. Because of this, the victim would still be able to function at a normal level in some areas. They’ll be able to feel and move, but may face other serious limitations, usually on one side of the body.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injury
The leading cause of spinal cord injuries in the United States are car accidents and other motor vehicle crashes. These could be pedestrian accidents, accidents involving a commercial truck, as well as a two-vehicle car accident.
The next leading cause of spinal cord injuries are those suffered as a result of slip and falls.
Oilfield accidents, construction site accidents, and other workplace accidents can also cause spinal cord injuries, especially if these injuries occur after falling from a high place or slipping and hitting your back. In cases of a spinal cord injury at work, the victim may be eligible for workers’ compensation, but in most cases, it’s not enough to cover all of the medical bills, lost wages, and costs associated with such a severe injury.
Other common causes of spinal cord injuries include acts of violence like gunshot wounds and sports and recreation activities.
If the cause of your spinal cord injury is related to the negligence or fault of another person or a company, you may be eligible to get some or all of your bills and costs compensated by filing a personal injury claim.
Spinal Cord Injury Treatment
There are many different ways that a spinal cord injury can be treated, and it varies greatly depending on the specifics of the injury. The most common treatments for spinal cord injuries are medications, surgeries, and physical therapy.
Medication
Medications are a common part of the treatment plan for spinal cord injuries. One of those medications commonly used are steroids, which are sometimes used to reduce swelling around the spinal cord that may cause further damage. If a mass is causing the spinal cord problems, these medications may be able to shrink the mass and relieve the victim of some pain. They may even be able to help the victim regain feeling in their extremities by relieving the pressure. Medications are almost never the full treatment for spinal injuries but they are almost at least a part of the treatment.
Surgery
In most serious spinal injury cases, surgery is required. One common surgery to relieve spinal cord pain is called decompression laminectomy, which removes fluid or tissue that is pressing on a person’s spinal cord. This type of surgery is also used for spinal stenosis and herniated discs, but can provide some relief to other spinal cord injuries as well. Surgery is oftentimes used to remove bones, disc fragments, or other objects from around the spine. They may also use surgery to stabilize the spine by fusing the bones or potentially inserting hardware into the spine.
Bed Rest
Bed rest doesn’t seem like it would be an important part of treatment for spinal cord injury, but it can actually help a lot for certain situations. Bed rest can be important to give the spine proper time to heal itself. The spine carries a lot of the body’s weight, so taking pressure of your spine by staying in a horizontal position can be really helpful in recovery. Remaining on your feet after a spinal cord injury can potentially make your injury much worse.
Physical Therapy
In most cases of spinal cord injury, physical therapy is necessary. Many spinal cord injury patients require intense rehabilitation to regain certain movement and abilities. Sometimes, physical therapy is prescribed in order to help a patient get the extra push they need back to the normal life, and sometimes it’s prescribed to be an all out last effort to save their mobility. Physical therapy is often thought of as helping people learn to walk again, but it is just commonly used to help people regain the ability to feed themselves, use the bathroom, and perform other daily tasks.
In almost all cases, physical therapy is tough, time-consuming, and expensive.