San Jose Spine Injury Attorneys

Spinal Cord Injuries: The Basics

Traumatic. Dangerous. Life-changing. All three of these terms can be applied to spinal cord injuries, which strike over 11,000 Americans each year. Spinal cord injury doesn't just hurt victims' bodies - it can change their way of life, disrupting earning power, family relations, future prospects, and mental health. And all too often, victims of spinal cord injuries don't fight back against the negligent party who caused their lasting injury.

Spinal cord injuries affect the 26 vertebrae that make up the spinal cord, which houses part of the body's central nervous system and controls signals that are transmitted to and from the brain to cause movement and sensation. Spinal cord injuries can affect the lumbar, cervical, thoracic, and/or sacral vertebrae and are usually caused by a traumatic injury, such as an assault, swimming accident, shooting, fall, auto accident, or sports injury.

Statistics show that males comprise over 80 percent of spinal cord injury victims. Between half of the victims of spinal cord injury are 16 to 30 years old. Unfortunately, this means that young victims have a lifetime of side effects to deal with. Spinal cord injury can cause everything from slight loss of motion to full-blown quadriplegia (loss of the use of the arms and legs).

Since the spinal cord is such a delicate part of the human anatomy, it's hard to predict recovery times for spinal cord injury. However, factors such as age, type of injury, severity, and pre-existing conditions can affect the outcome of a spinal cord injury. Specialized medical care is always required with a spinal cord injury, with treatment options ranging from rehabilitation to surgery to medication and beyond. Spinal injury victims tend to require medical services from medical professionals in every specialty from neurology to occupational therapy, psychology to social work.

The circumstances and symptoms surrounding a spinal cord injury vary from victim to victim. What doesn't change is a person's right to expect a standard of care from others that protects them from spinal cord injury. If you or a loved one have suffered spinal cord injury due to a person's negligence (purposeful or non-purposeful neglect of a reasonable duty toward others), you could be eligible for a substantial financial reward that helps pay for past and future medical costs, pain and suffering, and things like vocational rehabilitation.

The California spinal cord injury attorneys Van Der Walde & Associates have recovered millions of dollars for the victims of spinal cord injury. They pride themselves on professional service and justice for all. Interested in a free phone consultation? Call today for more information on whether you might have a valid spinal cord injury lawsuit.