Motor vehicle collisions can inspire a variety of life-altering injuries. Spinal cord injuries are among the most dramatized and feared of all traumatic car crash injuries. Most people have seen a movie or read a book with a character who has paraplegia or tetraplegia resulting from a car crash.
Even those with minimal medical knowledge understand that a spinal cord injury could leave them unable to feel parts of their body or move after a crash occurs. However, it is also possible for someone to sustain a spinal cord injury that does not present immediate symptoms. People can walk away from a collision, only to have their injuries and symptoms worsen later.
Not all injuries sever the spinal cord
When people talk about spinal cord injuries, they usually talk about complete spinal cord injuries. In a complete injury scenario, the trauma severs or completely cuts through the spinal cord. The damage to the spinal cord causes a complete and permanent loss of function and sensation below the location of the injury.
Incomplete spinal cord injuries are different because they involve tearing or cutting of the spinal cord or possibly its compression between two vertebrae. Incomplete spinal cord injuries may produce physical discomfort, a loss of coordination, tingling, numbness and reduced strength.
People may not realize that the unusual symptoms they experience immediately after an injury are indicative of a spinal cord injury. They may then continue on with their daily lives without treatment. Physically demanding work, exercise or secondary trauma might result in the injury becoming a complete injury and the sudden onset of paralysis.
Even without the injury worsening, the incomplete spinal cord injury may continue to cause symptoms and functional limitations that impact day-to-day life. Although incomplete spinal cord injuries aren’t as expensive or debilitating as complete spinal cord injuries, they can still cause career setbacks, medical expenses and other challenges.
Being able to recognize the symptoms of an incomplete spinal cord injury can allow people to get the treatment they need and to pursue the compensation they deserve. Those with permanent, severe car crash injuries may find that they need to consider a lawsuit because insurance coverage doesn’t fully compensate them for their numerous losses.