Dangers of Spinal Cord Injury in Los Angeles

What is Spinal Cord Injury?

Spinal cord injury or SCI is the damage to the spines that may result into losing vital body functions such as feeling or mobility. It damages the white matter or myelinated fiber tracts that carry motor signals and sensation to and from the brain, and also the gray matter in the central part of the spinal, causing segmental losses of motorneurons and interneurons.

What are the effects of Spinal Cord Injury?

1. Complete injury

There is a malfunction below the neurological level in a complete injury, no voluntary movement and no sensation. Both sides of the body are affected.

The injury is considered complete if a person has a level lower or below that has no sensory and motor function.

Less than 5% of the people with complete or full spinal cord injury recover locomotion.

2. Incomplete injury

Those people who have incomplete injury retain some movement or sensation at the lower level of the affected part. They may be able to feel parts of the body that are affected and cannot be moved. It is possible for them to move one limb more than another or may have functioning on one side of the body more than the other.

More than 95% of the people who suffer this kind of injury recuperate some locomotor ability.

What are the other possible complications of the spinal cord injury?

•    Neuropathic pain
•    Atrophy of muscle
•    Sexual function is affected
•    Superior Mesentric Artery Syndrome
•    Gallbladder and renal stones
•    Spasticity (increased stiffness and reflexes of the limbs)
•    Dysfunction of  bowel and bladder (anal incontinence and bladder infections)
•    Reduced ability or inability to regulate sweating, body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate
•    Loss or shortage of breathing, and necessitating mechanical ventilators
•    Bone degeneration and osteoporosis
•    The abnormal increase in sweating or Autonomic dysreflexia, blood pressure, and further autonomic reaction to sensory disturbances or pain

What are the causes of Spinal Cord Injury?

The frequent causes of damage are the following:

•    Ischemia resulting from blockage of spinal blood vessels
•    Demyelinative diseases (e.g. Multiple Sclerosis)
•    Trauma (falls, automobile crashes, war injuries, diving accidents, gunshots, etc.)
•    Vascular malformations (cavernous angioma, aneurysm, dural arteriovenous fistula, arteriovenous malformation and spinal hemangioma)
•    Tumor (ependymomas, metastatic cancer, astrocytomas, and meningiomas)
•    Neurodegenartive diseases (spinocerebellar ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, etc.)
•    Transverse myelitis which results from inflammation, spinal cord stroke, or other causes
•    Developmental disorders (meningomyolcoele, spina bifida, etc.)

How many people have Spinal Cord Injury?

In the United States, one in every 670 people has spinal cord injury, or approximately 450,000 people.

Every year, there are about 11,000 new spinal cord injuries, and just about 78% of them are males between the ages of 16-30 and which resulted from motor vehicle accidents, falls, or violence.

Who to ask for help?

Spinal cord injuries have devastating effects and these are often permanent. If a person suffers this kind of injuries, of course, it is necessary to ask doctors for help and seek medical attention.

These injuries don't just affect the victims physically but also emotionally; not just the victims but also their families and loved ones. It is often caused by the negligence of others, may it be vehicle crashes, birth injury, surgical error, construction site accidents, machinery failures, defective products, or chemical exposure.

If this happens, it is best to contact Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers. They are always ready to help victims fight for their rights, help them obtain full compensation covering medical expenses, supplies and equipment, lost wages, rehabilitation cost, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.


If you happen to injure your spines due to the neglectful acts of other party, log on to our website and learn how defend your rights and pursue a personal injury claim with our line of credible Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers.