The Top Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles
Like a brain injury, a spinal cord injury can be one of the most devastating events that a person and his or her family can experience. The severity of a spinal cord injury depends upon where the trauma occurs. Injuries that occur higher on the spinal cord usually have more severe consequences. Spinal cord injuries can result in any of the following conditions:
- Paralysis
- Loss of motor functions
- Loss of sensation in the limbs or other body parts
- Loss of manual dexterity
- Difficulty breathing
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Pain in the neck or spine
- Loss of reflexes
- Loss of balance
- Loss of sexual function
Spinal cord injuries can be among the most serious form of injuries resulting from an accident. Your spinal cord carries vital and sensitive nerves that serve as a form of “communication highway” between your brain and other parts of your body. Traumatic injuries to your spinal cord region can result in chronic pain, loss of control in your bodily functions, motor reflex spasms, loss of sensation, numbness, tingling, impaired movement or even complete paralysis.
Injuries that result in a victim losing sensation and the ability to move his or her body below the area where spinal trauma has occurred is referred to as a “complete” spinal cord injury. When a person still has some feeling and movement in the region below the impacted region, it is known as an “incomplete” spinal injury.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries can result from various forms of trauma to your spinal region, including injuries from:
- Car or auto accidents
- Motorcycle crashes
- Extreme whiplash or twisting of your torso region
- Sports injuries or rough tackles
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Work-related mishaps
- Gunshots
- Falls that result in landing on your head
- And a host of other activities that may result in damage to one’s spine.
Understanding and Responding to Spinal Cord Injuries in Los Angeles
If you have suffered any serious injury to your head or neck, seek immediate medical treatment so that a doctor may examine you for spinal injuries. Such injuries can require long-term and expensive treatment and/or rehabilitation. Serious spinal cord injuries may require items or treatments that include neck braces, wheel chairs, orthopedic beds, specialized furniture or long-term treatment facilities.
If your spinal cord injuries were caused by negligence or the wrongful act of another party, seek out a qualified spinal cord injury attorney who can evaluate your case and help you recover any damages that you may be entitled to.
Should you come across anyone who may have just suffered a spinal cord injury, do not move them unless it is absolutely necessary to get them out of harm’s way and prevent further injuries. Movement may exacerbate the spinal cord injury – even the simple act of trying to remove a helmet. Instead, keep the person as still as possible and call for medical assistance immediately.
Serious spinal cord injuries can result in painful and traumatic conditions that require long-term, expensive treatments that even many insurance policies may fail to completely cover.
Should you be the victim of a spinal injury as the result of anothers wrongful actions, seek out a professional personal injury attorney for a consultation on your case and help in your recovery.
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are usually classified as follows:
- Tetraplegia: also called quadriplegia, it is caused by a spinal cord injury in the neck area and can cause paralysis of the upper and lower extremities, including both the arms and legs.
- Paraplegia: caused by an injury below the neck level and results in paralysis of the lower part of the body, including the legs.
Paralysis from Spinal Cord Injury
The costs associated with the treatment of paralysis from a brain or spinal cord injury can be staggering and victims often require a lifetime of medical care. Such injuries are classified in the following manner, depending upon how extensive the nerve damage is:
- Complete: no sensation or voluntary movement below the point of spine injury, affecting both sides of the body.
- Partial: some function and feeling occurs below the point of injury; one side of the body may be more affected than the other.
In addition to the partial or total loss of movement and sensation, a victim of paralysis may have additional medical problems, such as difficulty breathing (possibly requiring a ventilator), loss of involuntary functions (inability to regulate blood pressure and body temperature), or loss of bladder and bowel control.
Los Angeles Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
When brain or spinal injuries occur, medical costs can add up quickly and overwhelm most families. If you or a loved one has sustained a brain or spinal cord injury due to another person’s negligence or wrongful act, you can and should hold them responsible. At The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq, our spinal cord injury lawyers have the medical and legal experience to help you secure the money you need to pay for past and future medical costs, compensate you for pain and suffering, make up for lost income, and provide for specialized needs (such as home accommodations, skilled attendant care, adaptations for car hand controls, etc.). Our Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers understand the trauma and difficulties that you face, and we will aggressively work to help with your case and protect your rights.