Spinal cord injuries can range from those that merely bruise the spinal cord to those that actually sever the spinal cord. The effects from spinal injuries can range from temporary nerve damage to permanent loss of function or paralysis. The Bradley Law Firm has helped many individuals and families dealing with spinal cord injuries.

It is estimated there are 8000 cases of spinal cord injuries in the United States alone. To put this in perspective, the population of Missouri is approximately 5,800,000. The total population of the United States, according to the last census in 2000, was approximately 280,000,000. This means Missouri constitutes approximately 2% of the US population. This equates to around 167 spinal cord injuries per year in Missouri alone.

Auto, truck and motorcycle crashes are the leading causes of all spinal cord injuries. Auto crashes, truck crashes and especially motorcycle crashes often result in broken necks, which lead to a high probability of severing the spinal cord.

Paralysis can occur without your neck breaking. In fact, any part of the backbone can potentially sever the spinal cord. The spinal cord is made up of vertebrae and is supported by discs. Discs are made up of a nucleus and absorb energy so to prevent destruction and deterioration of the spinal cord. These discs are designed to withstand ordinary every day forces- not large sudden forces like those seen in car, truck and motorcycle wrecks.

When pressure is applied to a disc, the jelly like substance between them mushrooms outward. When these discs are injured from the force of a car wreck, they can bulge or herniate. A disc bulge is usually when the disc protrudes from all sides. A disc herniation is usually focal and is directional.

The spine is made up of three different segments. First is the cervical spine which is the area where the neck is. Moving down, the thoracic spine is the area of the upper back. The lower back is called the lumbar spine. Below that is the sacrum.

Spinal cord victims need assistance in order to live productive lives. Many times, this means family members are called upon to assist the spinal cord victim. This can obviously be very trying for the victim’s families and for the victim. When faced with these kinds of situations, the spinal cord injury lawyers at the Bradley Law Firm coordinate long term care for their clients with a team of doctors and life care planners to determine what that person will need in terms of long term care. We then exhaust all resources that are liable to the victim. In cases where there are limited liability resources, we help the victim coordinate care with social workers, private health care, Medicare and/or Medicaid, whichever the case may be. In these cases, the victim will usually qualify to receive social security disability.

The Bradley Law Firm has over thirty years of experience handling personal injury claims and have a great deal of experience with spinal cord injuries. Contact the Bradley Law Firm today and speak to an experienced Missouri personal injury lawyer about your case for free.

Here are a few web sites that you may find helpful and informative in Spinal Cord injury cases:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/sci/sci.htm

National Spinal Cord Injury Association:
http://www.spinalcord.org/

Spinal Cord Injury Information Network:
http://www.spinalcord.uab.edu/