Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Stages

A spinal cord injury is one of the most severe complications you can suffer from an accident, as it can change your life forever. If you have sustained a spinal cord injury, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. Contact the Liberty, MO personal injury attorneys at the Aramjoo Law Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, to learn more about your legal rights.

Spinal cord injuries can vary in severity, but there is no such thing as a minor spinal cord injury. Given that the spinal cord is the pathway that helps transmit the messages that the brain sends to the rest of the body, any injury can take away some or all of your movement, either temporarily or permanently.

Types of Spinal Cord Injuries

There are two primary types of spinal cord injuries:

• A complete spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord is completely severed. Motion is lost below where the spinal cord is severed because the brain cannot transmit messages to the rest of the body.
• An incomplete spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord is partially severed, but there are still some pathways for the brain to send messages.

The severity of a spinal cord injury depends on where it happens. The higher the injury, the more serious it will be since you will lose movement below that point. Still, a lower spinal cord injury is also serious because it can take away your ability to walk. No matter the type of spinal cord injury, you are looking at a difficult process ahead of you.

Recovery From an Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

You have some hope of a partial or full recovery if you have suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury. However, the recovery process will not be linear. You may experience some quick recovery in the first six months, with much hard work ahead of you. It can take up to three years to recover from a spinal cord injury to the fullest extent possible.

In an incomplete spinal cord injury, there is still damage to neural pathways in the affected areas. The body is resilient, and it can rewire itself. The existing pathways can also be strengthened over time.

The Stages of Recovering From a Spinal Cord Injury

Below, we share the stages of your spinal cord injury recovery:

• The immediate stage of spinal cord injury recovery happens in the hospital when you may have had surgery for the injury, and doctors grade the severity of the injury. The main focus is on stabilization and reducing swelling.
• When you are discharged from the hospital, you will likely be sent directly to rehabilitation, where you may begin exercise that can help you begin to move and strengthen the affected areas.
• In the early stage of spinal cord injury recovery, the central nervous system will seek to stabilize itself. Patients may begin to regain some sensation and movement in their limbs that had previously lost them. This stage of recovery will usually last up to one year.
• Even after the first stage of recovery plateaus, you may still regain additional function over the first few years after your injury with continued rehabilitation and progress.

Whether you can regain mobility and how much you can recover depends on both the extent of your injury and the rigor of your rehabilitation. Some patients may be fully mobile within a few months after the injury, while others may take years to regain partial function. If you have suffered a complete spinal cord injury, the time after the injury is more about adjusting to your new circumstances.

Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Is Extremely Expensive

The two constants in any spinal cord injury are:

• Treating a spinal cord injury and going through rehabilitation are both very cost-prohibitive
• Seeking financial compensation if your injury was the result of someone else’s actions

Paraplegia can cost more than $500,000 to treat in the first year after the injury. Each subsequent year can bring costs of more than $100,000. These are just the costs of your medical treatment; these figures do not include things like lost wages and pain and suffering.

Why Hire an Attorney for Your Spinal Cord Injury Case?

Depending on the extent of your injuries and the responsible party’s insurance coverage, a spinal cord injury settlement may be worth more than $1 million. Regardless of the severity, the responsible party, if found liable, will be legally obligated to pay for the full amount of damages that they caused.

If you can prove that someone else was to blame for your spinal cord injury, you can then negotiate a settlement. Since these cases are potentially worth a large amount of money, you should enlist the help of an aggressive and experienced personal injury lawyer.

Contact a Liberty, MO, Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Today

How much money you receive in a spinal cord injury settlement is crucial for your medical care and your family’s future. You should never leave anything to chance legally if you have suffered a spinal cord injury. At the Aramjoo Law Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, we dedicate ourselves to your legal rights and financial recovery.

To schedule your free initial consultation with one of our tenacious attorneys, you can reach out to us online or call us today at (816) 479-5898.

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