People fear the idea of a spinal cord injury and the paralysis often triggered by complete injuries. When trauma severs the spinal cord, people immediately and completely lose motor function and sensation below the site of the injury. However, spinal cord injuries do not always sever the spinal cord. Sometimes, people sustain partial injuries that compress, pinch or tear the spinal cord but do not fully sever it.
Can people with incomplete spinal cord injuries expect their symptoms to improve over time?
Improvement is sometimes possible with care
Both incomplete and complete spinal cord injuries can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in immediate medical expenses when a person must undergo trauma care. They also create substantially increased lifetime care costs due to the need for ongoing medical support.
Physical therapy, new and modified assistive technology and additional long-term care costs later in life all contribute to the major financial impact of an incomplete spinal cord injury. With effective rehabilitation services, it is sometimes possible for people with incomplete spinal cord injuries to partially recover lost function or to modify their daily lives to work around their functional limitations.
While medical improvement is possible, there is no guarantee of recovering lost function. Additionally, the cost of care to achieve those improvements can go far beyond the compensation offered by baseline liability coverage carried by those at fault for the incident.
Working with a legal professional can make a major difference for those with either complete or incomplete spinal cord injuries. Legal action to supplement insurance coverage can prove to be critical when it comes to covering medical expenses and offsetting reduced income.