Surviving Spinal Cord Injuries
Surviving Spinal Cord Injuries – There are many serious injuries that people can sustain when they are involved in an accident. Recovering from these injuries is often difficult and presents crash survivors with many challenges. One of the most difficult types of trauma to recover from is a spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are around 300,000 people across the country living with an SCI and the majority are able to continue living rich, fulfilling lives. Recovery is different for everybody, but there are a few key milestones that most people will go through when dealing with an SCI.
Hospital Treatment
The initial period after suffering a major injury is often confusing. Depending on your specific injury, you may need to have surgery, breathe with a ventilator, and undergo other life saving medical procedures. The average amount of time spent in a hospital after an SCI is 11 days. However, for many survivors, the stay is longer.
After your stay at the hospital, you will either be discharged to a long-term care facility or released to go home. Some survivors will be sent to rehabilitation centers, where the average stay is around 36 days.
Hospital Release
After being released from a hospital, you and your caregivers will come up with a plan to help you manage your symptoms and work toward recovery. Having to plan out a difficult recovery process can make leaving hospital care stressful, as you may need to make difficult financial decisions, interview caregivers, and decide where you will be living after your injury.
Physical Therapy
There isn’t a universal definition of physical recovery for SCI survivors. While some are able to return to the same physical state as before their injury, some are left with symptoms that stay with them for the rest of their lives. This means that milestones for physical recovery are different for everyone. Common physical recovery milestones include:
- Reduction of pain and swelling at the injury site
- Recovering after surgery
- Regaining sensation
- Regaining movement
- Becoming comfortable with prosthetics and wheelchairs
- Strength training so that you can find new ways of completing tasks
Mental Recovery
SCI survivors often have a difficult path ahead of them. This can cause intense feelings of depression, anger, anxiety, and more. Some are even left with post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that can dramatically affect your life. These emotions can also make it more difficult to recover physically.
For these reasons, it is important that those who’ve suffered SCIs get psychological help if they are feeling distressed. These issues may seem like they will never go away, but mental recovery is possible. Studies show that, with time, the mental health of most SCI patients improves significantly.
Financial Recovery
Costs related to recovering from an SCI can be crippling. Paying for surgeries, caregivers, home modifications, therapy, medicine, and other expenses is made even more difficult by not being able to work because of your injury. However, those who’ve suffered their injury because of a negligent party such as a reckless driver can usually claim money to pay for their damages. To learn about getting compensated for your injuries, it’s best to contact a Paradise car accident lawyer who has experience with handling serious injury cases.
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- Reckless Driving Behavior in Paradise
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Paradise Car Accident Lawyers
I’m Ed Smith, a Paradise car accident lawyer. If you were injured in a severe crash, call me at (530) 392-9400 or (800) 404-5400, so I can give you free, friendly advice. Another good way to reach me is through my website.
I’ve been helping Paradise residents claim the money they deserve for cases involving wrongful death and personal injury for 37 years.
You are encouraged to learn about my work at my site’s Verdicts and Settlements section and by reading the reviews on my profiles at the below websites:
I’m a lawyer of the US forum for trial attorneys that have succeeded in claiming $1,000,000 for a client by negotiating or winning their case – the Million Dollar Advocates Forum
I created the leading car accident and personal injury information website in Northern CA – AutoAccident.com.
Surviving Spinal Cord Injuries: AutoAccident.com
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