Nationwide Mass Tort Representation
Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
A spinal cord injury can change so many aspects of your life overnight. Considering the seriousness of your injury, you need to know about your legal options for recovery.
A Life-Changing Injury
What is a spinal cord injury?
The spinal cord injury attorneys at Constant Legal Group will listen to your story to learn more about your accident and what may have caused your injury. From there, we’ll help you unpack whether filing a spinal cord injury lawsuit is in your best interest.
The spinal cord is made up of cells and nerves. These central components both receive messages from the brain and send those messages to various parts of the body to help facilitate action, movement, and behavior. A spinal cord injury is any damage to the cells and nerves that make up the spinal cord.
There are several types of spinal cord injuries. Some injuries result from direct damage to the nerves and cells, but the spinal cord can also suffer significant problems when surrounding bones and tissues are damaged.
Since the spinal cord is so crucial to a person’s movement, any variety of this injury can lead to temporary or permanent changes in how that person can move, sense and feel objects, and function. A spinal cord injury can also affect strength levels.
38.3%
of spinal injuries result from car accidents
31.6%
are caused by catastrophic and serious falls
13.8%
result from acts of violence
80%
of new spinal cord injuries occur in males
What are the main causes of spinal cord injuries?
It has been reported that 80% of new spinal cord injuries occur in males, with almost half happening to individuals between the ages of 16 and 30. These are the most common causes we see.
Car Accidents
About one-third of all spinal traumatic injuries happen due to car accidents. The fast, violent motion can strike, crush, or slam the spinal cord and surrounding tissues, leading to dislocations, crushing, or internal bleeding.
Catastrophic Falls
Falls can fracture, dislocate, crush, or compress your spinal cord and are a leading cause of workplace injuries. Even falls from the same height — slipping or tripping — can cause serious spinal cord injuries.
Acts of Violence
Assaults, shootings, stabbings, or attacks can cause a spinal cord injury. Negligent security claims may arise when a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to prevent a foreseeable criminal attack.
Sports Injuries
High-contact, physical sports carry real risk. Diving, football, rugby, gymnastics, snow skiing, hockey, surfing, and wrestling are among the activities most likely to cause a spinal cord injury.
Medical or Surgical Accidents
About 4.3% of spine injuries result from surgical errors. Any procedure involving your back, spinal cord region, or muscles could result in injury — and negligent medical care may be to blame.
Spine-Affecting Diseases
Conditions like arthritis, autoimmune diseases, syphilis, osteoporosis, cancer, vitamin deficiencies, and spinal cord inflammation can cause or contribute to a spinal cord injury.
Signs and symptoms of a spine injury
In severe situations, a spinal cord injury is apparent immediately. But spinal injuries aren’t always obvious — adrenaline can mask problems, and some symptoms are delayed when swelling and bleeding occur internally. Watch for:
- Breathing problems or pain when you breathe
- Spasms or exaggerated reflex activities
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of voluntary muscle movement in arms, legs, or chest
- Loss of feeling in your extremities or your chest
- Loss of control of your bowels or bladder
- Neck pressure or pain in your back
- Decrease in feeling, reflexes, or muscle movement
After an accident, spinal injury symptoms can mimic other conditions and may be delayed. For that reason, getting a full medical evaluation and testing after any serious accident is important.
Types of spinal cord injuries
Some injuries can cause total paralysis while others may cause only some loss of function. In general, the higher up the spine the injury is, the more severe the symptoms. An injury near the neck can impact the ability to breathe, while lower spinal injuries might impact the legs, bowels, and bladder.
Complete spinal injuries
Incomplete spinal injuries
Quadriplegia vs. paraplegia
Quadriplegia is a loss of the ability to move the legs and the arms, whereas paraplegia means a loss of the ability to move one’s legs and lower body.
Why do spinal injuries cause paralysis?
The trauma and damage prevent your nerves and cells from communicating effectively with your brain. Your brain may signal your body to move your arms, but the message gets lost in translation when it reaches the damaged cell area. Similarly, your arm may “sense” an object, but the signals can’t reach your brain — so you only feel numbness.
How a spinal injury lawyer can help
Investigate your accident
Your lawyer investigates the cause of your accident and who may have been responsible, then reviews the full extent of your losses.
Establish duty of care
You must establish that the other party owed you a duty of care, then provide evidence demonstrating how they were negligent and acted recklessly.
Prove causation and losses
Show that their negligence directly caused your accident and spinal cord injury, then demonstrate the extent of your losses and how the injury affected your life.
Negotiate or go to trial
Your lawyer helps you estimate the value of your losses, files the right paperwork, negotiates with the appropriate parties, and represents you if your case goes to trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spinal Cord Injury FAQ
How much is a spinal cord injury lawsuit worth?
What is the average settlement for a spinal cord injury?
How long do I have to file a spinal cord injury lawsuit?
Are all spine injuries the same?
Contact an experienced spinal injury lawyer now
Often, those suffering from spinal cord injuries don’t pursue the full extent of the compensation they deserve because they aren’t aware of their legal ability to do so. At Constant Legal Group, we want to help you get fully compensated for every loss you endured — including lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Are you ready to pursue justice after your accident and spinal cord injury diagnosis? Schedule a 100% free, no-obligation review of your case now.
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It can be overwhelming when you or a loved one is suffering from a personal injury incident. When working with our dedicated attorneys, we will take the pressure off of your shoulders and into our own hands. Together we will fight to restore control over your life.