After an injury accident, your life could change significantly. While broken bones can certainly affect your life, an injured spinal cord could severely shape your future. Some injuries can reset and heal over time. But with a spinal cord injury, you might experience a change in your quality of living, chronic pain, or weakness.
You could be entitled to compensation if someone’s reckless or negligent behavior caused your injury. The spinal cord injury lawyers with Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C., are ready to hear your case and help you calculate your damages.
What Are Spinal Cord Injuries?
Your spinal cord contains a column of nerves running from your skull to the center of your back. It has protective tissues surrounded by vertebrae or backbones. This makes up your central nervous system. This network carries impulses and data to your brain from your body and vice versa.
Any injury to this network can disrupt mobility, feeling, or functionality. If your spinal cord is damaged in an injury accident, you might experience pain even after you feel you should have healed.
Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms
If you have an injured spinal column, you might experience one or more symptoms, depending on the severity of your injury. Your injuries could be incomplete or complete.
With an incomplete spinal cord injury, your nervous system can still send some messages. Most people have some functionality.
In complete spinal column cases, there is no nerve activity below the spinal cord injury, meaning motor functions and sensory inputs are lost.
Some examples of spinal cord injury symptoms include:
- Numbness or tingling in extremities
- Loss of sensation
- Inhibited mobility
- Pain or pressure
- Difficulty breathing
- Loss of regular bodily functions
What Accidents Can Cause Spinal Cord Injuries?
The most common causes of spinal cord injuries in the United States are motor vehicle accidents or catastrophic falls. Other causes include acts of violence, sports injuries, medical injuries, industrial accidents, or diseases.
Many spinal column or nerve injuries can occur in whiplash car accidents. Any rapid change in speed or direction can damage the spinal column. Rear-end or side-impact collisions are common examples of car accidents that can cause spinal cord injuries.
There are increased risk factors for people aged 16 to 30 or over 65. Other risk factors include alcohol use, certain diseases, or neglecting to use safety gear.
Your spinal cord injury could be diagnosed in several ways, including:
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — a method that creates detailed 3D images that show body structures. It can reveal trauma that affects your spinal cord
- Computerized tomography (CT scan) — this scan can provide 2D images of organs, bones, and tissues in the body. They can detect fractures, bleeds, and other indicators of spinal cord injuries
- X-Rays — 2D images that can show breaks or misalignments in the body
How Do You Treat Spinal Cord Injuries?
Treating spinal cord injuries can vary from non-invasive to surgical. Your treatment will depend on your injuries. While some people dealing with minor injuries like whiplash can resolve their pain through time and medication, other injuries might require more intense solutions, like fusing vertebrae.
There aren’t cures for complete spinal cord injuries, but some treatments can mitigate the damage at the time of the injury. The spinal cord may swell upon injury, which causes secondary damage. Some treatments address this swelling, which can reduce some lasting damage.
Complete spinal cord injuries can have lasting effects. If corrective measures can’t restore your body, you may need mobility aids to improve your quality of life. It’s common for people with SCIs to need wheelchairs, walkers, reacher tools, or home aids to maintain their quality of living.
How Long Can Spinal Cord Injuries Last?
Depending on the extent of your injuries, your recovery time could vary. Swelling from the initial injury can recede, allowing nerves to function normally. In many incomplete spinal cord cases, therapy and treatment can help victims recover in almost a year and a half. Some people with injured spinal cords can completely recover, but in all likelihood, anyone with an SCI will experience some consequences for life.
Can I Get Compensation for My Spinal Cord Injuries?
Illinois personal injury laws state you can recover compensation for your damages caused by someone else’s negligence or reckless behavior. You’ll have two years to file a claim against the person that caused your injuries; otherwise, the statute of limitations will expire.
You can pursue damages for your economic and non-economic losses. Economic losses are the out-of-pocket expenses you experienced because of the accident that hurt you. In an SCI case, you could be looking at medical expenses, long-term therapy, or even the cost of modifying your home to accommodate your new quality of life. Some SCI victims need ramps or lower handles on cabinets to make sure they can maintain their independence.
In a personal injury case, non-economic losses are conceptual losses that don’t have a monetary value. They are damages you experience after an accident that don’t have a receipt. You might experience a loss of enjoyment of life because of your injured spine. For instance, if you can’t continue an activity you loved before the accident, you can sue the at-fault party for your loss of enjoyment.
Other non-economic losses include pain and suffering, mental anguish, or mental trauma. A personal injury lawyer can help you calculate the value of your case.
Can Disability Payments Affect My Case?
Because of the permanent nature of many SCIs, it’s possible to pursue disability payments. If you suffer paralysis, severe pain, loss of muscle control, loss of coordination, impaired communication abilities, or other stroke-like symptoms, you might qualify for social security disability payments.
Your ability to qualify for disability payments should not hinder your pursuit of a personal injury claim. These claims are designed to help you financially recover from the damages you experienced because of the accident. A personal injury lawyer will be able to explain how disability payments can affect your case.
Why Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?
When pursuing justice after an accident causes a spinal cord injury, you are owed compensation for the pain the accident caused. The at-fault person must be held fully responsible, and you stand the best chance of succeeding with a seasoned Chicago personal injury lawyer. They will have the legal know-how to build your case and negotiate your payments.
Your lawyer can investigate the circumstances around your injury, help you build your documentation for your case, and work with the at-fault party’s insurance company. If they cannot negotiate a settlement, your lawyer can take your claim to court in a lawsuit. Your attorney should understand how the injury has changed your life, and that a spinal cord injury has far-reaching implications.
Connect with a Chicago Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Spinal cord injuries are serious. They carry heavy ramifications, like being unable to work in your current role or losing independence. If you’ve been injured, get help from the spinal cord injury lawyers at Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C. We understand the trauma SCIs create. We can help you build your case to ensure the best chance at successfully arguing for full financial compensation.
You shouldn’t have to work on your claim alone while you recover. We will work with you and provide updates throughout the legal process. We operate under a “no win, no fee” policy.
Schedule your consultation by calling (312) 236-2900 or using our contact form.
