The issue of spinal cord injury claims and compensation often arises after an accident to ensure that the injured person will have financial aid in all of his or her medical and rehabilitation expenses.

Due to the life changing effects the injury brings, the law mandates that all people who are suffering from it should be compensated by the person or party at fault.

Spinal Cord Injury Cases in the United States

Most spinal cord injury cases result to permanent disability or loss of movement and sensation below the area of the injury.

Tetraplegia or quadriplegia is a paralysis involving majority of a person's body including the legs and arms. Meanwhile, a person is said to be suffering from paraplegia when a spinal cord injury only affects his or her lower body.

According to statistics, 250,000 Americans are suffering from this injury. About 52% of them are paraplegic while 47% of them are quadriplegic.

A spinal cord injury, regardless of what type it is, may cause the following symptoms:

• Loss of body movement

• Loss of feeling like the capability to feel cold and heat

• Difficulty in breathing, coughing, or clearing out secretions from the lungs

• Loss of bladder or bowel control

• Exaggerated spasms or reflex activities

• Pain or extreme stinging feeling which is caused by the damage to the person's nerve fibers located in the spinal cord

• Changes in sexual sensitivity, sexual function, and fertility

Causes: Traumatic and Non-traumatic

A traumatic spinal cord injury may result from an abrupt traumatic blow to the spine that dislocates, fractures, compresses, or crushes a person's vertebrae. It may also be caused by a knife or gunshot wound that cuts or penetrates the spinal cord.

Further damage often takes place over weeks or days due to swelling, fluid accumulation, and inflammation inside and around the spinal cord.

Meanwhile, non-traumatic causes include cancer, arthritis, blood vessel bleeding or other problems, infections or inflammation, or the spine's disk degeneration.

Here are some of the specific causes of spinal cord injury:

• Falls- Injury sustained by people who are 65-years-old and above is usually caused by falling. In total, approximately 22% of spinal cord injuries are caused by falls.

• Violent acts- Around 15% of spinal cord injuries are caused by violent encounters, usually involving knife and gunshot wounds.

• Motor vehicle accidents- Motorcycle and auto accidents are considered

as the primary causes of spinal cord injuries.

Filing a Claim and Being Compensated

Filing and pursuing spinal cord injury claims may be hard for victims especially due to their physical condition. To solve this problem, professional help from personal injury lawyers should be acquired.

These legal experts can help their clients recover compensation for lost income or wages, pain and suffering, and future medical expenses including rehabilitation costs.