If you have suffered a serious spinal cord injury contact a personal injury lawyer from Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC today to discuss your case.
The National Spinal Cord Statistical Center (NSCISC) recently reported that in the United States, the annual incidence of spinal cord injuries (SCIs) is around 54 cases per 1 million people. That equals to around 17,700 new SCI cases every year.
Estimates conclude that there are around 296,000 Americans living with a spinal cord injury as of 2021.
Spinal cord injuries can occur during mundane tasks like driving down the road to more serious situations like sporting accidents, which is the case for many male victims between the ages of 16 to 30. Because of the severity of SCIs, the effects of such an injury can have a profound effect on your quality of life.
If the accident that damaged your spine occurred as a result of someone else’s negligence, the Lexington spinal cord injury attorneys at Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC can help to rectify the situation and get you the compensation you need to begin recovery.
Have you or your loved one sustained a spinal cord injury? Call Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC today at (859) 550-2900 or fill out a contact form and one of our representatives will reach out to you shortly.
Steps to Take After a Spinal Cord Accident
![Steps to Take After a Spinal Cord Accident](/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Steps-to-Take-After-a-Spinal-Cord-Accident-300x200.jpg)
As with any serious accident you or a loved one may suffer, the first step you should take is to seek out medical attention. Forgoing this important step can leave you with long-lasting and debilitating ailments.
Your doctor may suggest various tests including an MRI, CT scan, or a myelogram, to determine what type of damage you may be dealing with. Once your injury has been confirmed, the ensuing medical treatment should focus on stabilizing your spine while treating it with corticosteroid drugs to stop further damage.
In severe situations, surgery may be necessary to fuse the spine with metal plates or pins. Over the next six months, improvement to the spine’s functionality may continue. However, you may also suffer from permanent damage.
Should this happen, life-long treatment may include:
- Intense rehabilitation therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Nutritional management
- Psychological counseling
- Regular monitoring by a qualified physician
During the treatment process, you should save all of your medical bills and document treatment costs. Also, keep records of lost wages, any decreases in potential earnings, and any other types of financial losses you may be experiencing related to your SCI.
You will then need to speak with our personal injury lawyers in Lexington, KY.
Symptoms of a Spinal Cord Injury
It is important to pay attention to what your body is telling you after being involved in any kind of accident that compresses, pulls, pushes, or cuts your spinal cord. In most instances, you may feel one or more of the following symptoms that signify some sort of SCI:
- Difficulty breathing
- Bedsores
- Chronic pain
- Headaches
- Nerve pain
- Chronic muscle pain
- Weakness
- Tingling
- Numbness
- Poor coordination
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Paralysis
If these symptoms are ignored, more serious health problems could arise, leaving you in worse condition.
Common Spinal Cord Injuries and Lasting Health Issues Resulting From an Accident
When it comes to SCIs, there are two main types of spinal cord injuries:
- An “incomplete” SCI signifies that there is some function below the injury level with some nerve fibers within the cord still functional:
- Anterior cord syndrome – Injury to the front of the spinal cord that damages the motor and sensory pathways.
- Central cord syndrome – Leads to loss of fine motor skills, paralysis of the arms, and partial impairment in the legs.
- Brown-Sequard syndrome – Damage is more severe to one side of the spinal cord.
- A “complete” spinal cord injury signifies that there is no function present below the injury level:
- Tetraplegia – Produces varying degrees of paralysis to all limbs.
- Paraplegia – Affects sensation and movement of the lower half of the body.
- Triplegia – Affects sensation and movement in one arm and both legs.
Since the spinal cord serves other functions aside from limb movement, it isn’t uncommon for spinal cord injury victims to suffer a variety of health problems including issues with bowel and bladder function, sexual problems, nerve damage, and a host of other issues.
If you have suffered a spinal cord injury contact Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC today to secure a team of personal injury attorneys who have the knowledge, skill, and dedication to help you begin piecing your life back together.
Determining Cause and Liability in Your Spinal Cord Injury Claim – January 2022 Update
Recent data compiled by the NSCISC revealed that, since 2015, the majority of spinal cord injuries have occurred as a result of:
- Motor vehicle crashes (38.2 percent)
- Slip and falls (32.3 percent)
- Intentional violence (14.3 percent)
- Sporting accidents (7.8 percent)
Other causes of SCIs include blood clots, tumors, abscesses, spina bifida, polio, and even inherited disorders like Friedrich’s Ataxia.
In order to determine who is responsible for the SCI that you sustained, an experienced spinal cord injury attorney must analyze the accident that caused it. Every detail about the accident must be relayed to your attorney to help discover if there was a party that acted negligently and what their role in the accident was.
Some of the reasons spinal cord injuries occur include:
- Household Accidents – A homeowner has a duty to ensure the safety of those that visit them. Because of this, it is a homeowner’s responsibility — through premise liability — to inform those that have come to visit about any hidden dangers that may be present within the household including that areas that can cause slips and falls, wet floors, and other dangers that could cause an injury. Most lawsuits filed under this category are filed against the resident’s homeowners insurance.
- Slip and Falls – Like homeowners, business owners owe you a high level of safety while you are shopping, dining, being entertained, or within their business as a customer. Under this type of accident, premises liability is still applicable. That is why business owners make it a prerogative to conduct inspections to make sure that their business is up to par with local and federal standards.
- Motor Vehicle Accidents – Car accidents usually occur because of the negligence of one party. Because of this, a driver who acted negligently — like texting and driving — is held liable and is obligated to pay out compensation to any victims that were affected. Their insurance will, however, do all that they can to disprove that their client wasn’t at fault, and that is why having an experienced attorney by your side is your best bet to secure recovery.
- Medical Malpractice – We trust our lives with medical professionals every day, but what happens when their negligence causes a painful spinal cord injury? Doctors, just like business owners and homeowners, must be dedicated to giving the utmost standard of care to their patients. When they fail at doing so, their patient has the legal right to seek compensation from their medical malpractice carrier.
Every year around 12,000 Americans are victims of spinal cord injuries as a result of an accident. Do not be a nameless victim. Your pain deserves to have a voice.
Contact Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC today at (859) 550-2900 for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
Potential Compensation for Your Spinal Cord Injury
By enlisting the help of the Lexington injury attorneys of Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC, you are not only getting legal representation that has perfected its practice by serving communities for decades, but you are also getting a compassionate and dedicated team that can help you collect compensation for damages such as but not limited to:
- Medical costs
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitative services
- Costs of assistive medical equipment like wheelchairs and/or respirators
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Costs of personal care
- Lost wages
SCIs differ depending on severity, but one thing is for certain; quite often, they are life-altering. If you or someone you love has had their lives change dramatically because of an accident caused by a negligent party, you need the best Lexington spinal cord injury attorneys by your side. You need Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC.
Spinal cord injury lawyers that work hard to earn your trust.
Spinal cord injuries are a traumatic and life-changing experience, but you don’t need to suffer alone. The spinal cord injury attorneys of Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC have comforted victims and their families for decades, helping them earn maximum recovery.
Contact our experienced personal injury lawyers today at (859) 550-2900 or fill out a contact form for a free consultation and we will reach out to you shortly. We look forward to helping you with your claim.
Our personal injury law firm in Lexington, KY also provides:
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