You are legally entitled to compensation if you have suffered a paralyzing injury due to someone else’s reckless actions. However, securing the justice and accountability you deserve can be challenging and requires the attention of an experienced attorney.
The legal team at Ryan Bisher Ryan & Simons is proud to provide excellent legal representation to injury victims throughout our state. Our seasoned Oklahoma paralysis injury lawyer has the experience and resources to pursue maximum compensation on your behalf. We offer free, no-obligation consultations, and you pay nothing unless we win your case. Contact us today to learn more.
What Is Spinal Paralysis and How Does It Occur?
Paralysis occurs when an individual loses sensation or mobility in part of their body. Most paralyzing conditions result from trauma to the spinal cord, which houses the main neurological pathway connecting your limbs and torso to the brain. When this pathway is damaged or severed, the nerves below the point of injury get cut off and can no longer carry signals to and from the brain as they should. This results in a loss of sensation and mobility from the injury down.
How Are Paralyzing Injuries Classified?
There are many ways of classifying these injuries. At a high level, physicians and medical professionals recognize two main types of spinal paralysis:
- Incomplete paralysis –Partial or incomplete paralysis occurs when the damaged nerves can still transmit and receive some signal below the injury site.
- Complete paralysis – By contrast, complete paralysis happens when the spinal cord is damaged so severely that it can no longer transmit or receive any signal below the injury site.
More narrowly, spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can be categorized based on where they occur along the spine. The categories break down as follows:
- Cervical –SCIs that affect the vertebrae in the neck, the uppermost part of the spine.
- Thoracic –SCIs that affect the vertebrae in the upper back.
- Lumbar –SCIs that affect the part of the vertebrae in the lower back.
- Sacral –SCIs that affect the lowermost vertebra just above the tailbone.
Again, paralysis occurs when nerves get cut off from the brain. Therefore, cervical SCIs may affect nerves from the neck down. Thoracic SCIs may affect nerves from the upper back down and so on.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries That Result in Paralysis
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS), auto accidents and catastrophic falls remain the leading causes of spinal cord injuries in the U.S. Less common causes include things like intentional violence, sporting injuries, medical/surgical injuries, accidents at industrial sites, illness, and genetic conditions.
