Spinal Cord Injuries affect 450 thousand people in the United States
More than 250,000 people in the United States are living with an injury to their spinal cord (SCI). There are approximately 11,000 new spinal cord injuries in the United States every year. Most of these spinal cord injuries are the result of trauma to the vertebral column following an accident.
What is the spinal cord?
The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that transmits nerve impulses to and from the brain to the rest of the body. The spinal cord, along with the brain, comprise the Central Nervous System.
What is a spinal cord injury?
A spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord is damaged. This injury causes a decrease in function such as the ability to move or loss of sensation. The spinal cord will be damaged as the result of trauma (car accident, fall, etc.) or disease. The spinal cord does not have to be severed for a loss of function to occur.. Spinal cord injury is very different from back injuries such as herniated disks, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves.
When there is a severe impact that dislocates or fractures the vertebrae, there will be a spinal cord injury. Most injuries cause damage when pieces of vertebrae tear the cord tissue or put pressure on the nerves.
Categories of spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injuries are often referred to as complete or incomplete. When there is no function below the level of the injury, no sensation and no voluntary movement it is considered to be a complete injury. When there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury the injury is called an incomplete injury. With an incomplete injury a person may be able to move one extremity more than another and may have sensation in areas of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more use on one side of the body than the other.
Legal Help for Spinal Cord Injury Victims
If you or a family member or friend has sustained a spinal cord injury, contact a personal injury attorney at the Finz firm today at (855) TOP-FIRM to speak with an attorney experienced in spinal cord injury litigation or simply fill out the Free Spinal Cord Injury Case Evaluation
