Your seven vertebrae at the top of your spinal cord in your neck area comprise the cervical spine. Individuals who hurt one of these vertebrae are at a significantly higher risk for spinal cord injuries such as quadriplegia. This may affect a patient’s ability to move their limbs or feel anything before their neck or shoulder area. This has to do in large part with the proximity of a patient’s injury to their brain.
Any type of cervical neck injury can result in the victim experiencing either partial or complete permanent loss of their sensory functions and collateral consequences. Those cervical neck injuries that are higher up along the spine tend to result in the most severe complications and even death.
Individuals who suffer cervical neck injuries tend to experience significant swelling along their spinal cord in the immediate aftermath of their accident. Doctors generally have to perform a surgical procedure to stabilize the neck and alleviate pressure on a patient’s spinal cord. It’s only once these happen that doctors are better able to come up with a prognosis.
Patients often receive steroids and other anti-inflammatory medications following their injury in hopes of reducing swelling, since swelling can cause further complications. Surgery can aid with stabilization, but seldom aids a patient in recovery from their injuries. Spinal injuries are typically permanent.
Most individuals who suffer cervical neck injuries undergo regular rounds of rehabilitation aimed at helping them recover the use of their non-paralyzed body parts. Therapists focus on teaching patients how to more effectively use those to regain a sense of autonomy in their lives.
Even though patients learn different autonomous skills, they don’t often allow them to be left completely alone. Individuals with spinal cord injuries generally require around-the-clock care for the rest of their lives.
Life is quite fragile. An individual can easily move from being able to walk, run or swim one minute to being unable to do anything the next. All of this can happen because the person slips and falls on a wet or dirty floor, is involved in a car accident or is a victim of a crime.
Events of this type can change a patient’s life in an instant. A personal injury attorney in Rochester can advise you of how Michigan law allows you to file a lawsuit seeking damages if someone’s negligence resulted in you getting hurt here.
