What Are Common Signs of Spinal Cord or Back Injury?

Do you think that you might have a spinal cord injury? If so, you need help from an experienced lawyer sooner rather than later. Feeling pain or numbness after you’ve been in an accident is a clear sign that you need more help from a physician in order to get a diagnosis.

The best way to handle this situation is to tell the paramedics that you might have sustained a back injury and to avoid moving until professionals tell you to do so.

A spinal cord or back injury has the potential to turn your life upside down and failing to get medical attention immediately could be deadly or could lead to a life of significant pain, therapy and procedures. If you believe that you have recently experienced a spinal cord injury as a result of being hurt in an accident, it is easy to feel as though every aspect of your life – financially, socially, physically and emotionally – has been impacted.

The ability to control your limbs after a severe back or spinal cord injury depends on the severity of that injury to the spinal cord and the location of the injury along your spinal cord.

There are two primary types of spinal cord injuries, known as incomplete and complete. A spinal cord injury is incomplete if you have some motor or sensory function that falls below the affected area. Even within a classification of an incomplete injury there can be varying degrees of severity. A complete injury refers to the loss of all ability to control movement and feel below the location of spinal cord injury.

Paralysis can also be referred to as paraplegia or tetraplegia but can be punctuated by symptoms such as exaggerated spasms or reflex activities, loss of bladder or bowel control, loss of movement, pain or an intense stinging location, or difficulty breathing or difficulty coughing. Extreme back pain, difficulty with balance and walking, numbness, weakness and impaired breathing should all be reported to a medical professional immediately.