Local Law Firms Home > Personal Injury Overview > Catastrophic Injury > Spinal Cord Injury A spinal cord injury is sustained when the vertebrae in the spinal column or “backbone” neglects to properly safeguard your spinal cord, usually due to a dislocation or fracture of your vertebrae. The spinal cord is consisted of a bundle of nerves that runs down your back from the base of your brain. These nerves control a variety of your bodily functions. Currently, there is no treatment for permanently fixing spinal cord injuries. The idea of treatment is only to prevent further injury from occurring. After a spinal cord injury, some swelling of the spinal cord usually happens, affecting the entire body. Some function may be regained over time as the swelling goes down.
Various parts of the spinal cord impact certain bodily functions. The spinal column is made up of a cervical section at the top, followed by the thoracic, lumbar and sacral portions. Usually, the higher the position of the spinal cord injury, the more serious the resulting injury is. Damage to the cervical or thoracic sections usually results in some degree of paralysis. Did you know? Forty-five percent of all spinal cord injuries result from car accidents, which is the leading cause of spinal cord injuries. This type of injury also results from swimming pool accidents, sports injuries, violence, slip and fall incidents, workplace accidents and other types of trauma or sudden blows to the spine. Approximately 200,000 individuals in the United States will sustain a spinal cord injury each year. |