Attorneys for Spinal Cord Injuries Caused by a Car Accident in Baltimore, MD

What are the different types of spinal cord injuries?

Our Baltimore car accident lawyers handle all types of spinal cord injuries, including the following:

Paralysis

Whether an accident victim can control their arms or legs after a car accident depends on the location and severity of the spinal cord injury.

The level of loss of feeling of sensation (paralysis) is classified as follows:

• The accident victim loses all feeling and all ability to control their movements below the point of the spinal cord injury.
• The accident victim has some feeling and control of movement below the point of the injury.

There are two main types of paralysis:

• Tetraplegia (quadriplegia).Your spinal cord injury affects your arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs.
• Your spinal cord injury affects all or part of the trunk, legs, and pelvic organs but not the arms.

Other categories of paralysis include monoplegia, hemiplegia, and diplegia, which affect sensation in specific parts of your body.

Possible treatments, according to the Cleveland Clinic, include:

• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
• Adaptive technology to help victims feed themselves and drive
• Adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, scooters, canes, and crutches
• Orthotic/prosthetic devices
• Voice-activated technology
• Treatment for complications of paralysis, like spasticity and urinary problems

We can review with your doctors and our network of physicians the possible treatments to relieve your pain and help you function.

Spinal fractures

A spinal fracture refers to the breaking of any of the 33 bones that make up your spinal column. Fractures are classified based on their location – cervical, thoracic, or lumbar. The different types of spinal fractures include compression fractures (small breaks), burst fractures (your spine may break into many pieces), and chance/flexion fractures (your vertebrae are suddenly pulled away from each other).

The symptoms may include back pain, tenderness or swelling, changes to your posture, tingling, loss of height, and incontinence. The diagnostic tests may include X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans.

The treatments vary, depending on the cause of the fracture, the type of fracture, and the location of the fracture. Treatments may include medications, the need to wear a back brace, physical therapy, and surgery. For osteoporotic compression fractures, two types of spinal fracture surgeries may help—vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Both of these procedures are normally outpatient procedures. Traumatic spinal fractures from car crashes may require different surgeries, such as decompression and fusion, based on the type and stability.

Herniated disks

A herniated disk occurs when the soft, jelly-like center of a disk in your spine pushes against and leaks out of its outer ring. This puts pressure on your spinal cord and irritates your spinal nerves, leading to pain, numbness, and weakness, in your neck, back, or legs. Disks are round cushions between your vertebrae that allow you to move and bend comfortably. Herniated disks are sometimes called slipped or ruptured disks.

Diagnostic tests include a neurological exam, MRIs, X-rays, CT scans, a myelogram, an electromyogram (EMG), and a nerve conduction study. Many herniated disks heal on their own without surgery. Car accident victims often rely on rest, over-the-counter medications, and heat/ice therapy.

The treatments for more severe cases of herniated disks include medications, physical therapy, and spinal injections of a steroid medication. In some cases, surgery may be necessary. Possible procedures include a microdiscectomy, a diskectomy, a laminotomy, a laminectomy, spinal fusion, and artificial disk surgery.

Other types of spinal injuries and conditions

These include:

• Facet joint injuries. At the back of each spinal segment, a pair of small facet joints connect the spine’s vertebral bones. The facet joints of the lumbar (lower back) spine bear a large amount of stress and weight, making them vulnerable to degeneration and injury. Nonsurgical treatments include heat therapy, cold packs, a supportive brace, physical therapy, TENS therapy, medications, and injections. If these treatments don’t work, surgery may be necessary.
• Spondylolisthesis happens when one of the bones in your spine (your vertebrae) slips out of alignment and presses down on the vertebra below it. Surgery may be necessary if nonsurgical treatments don’t help.
• Cervical radiculopathy (a pinched nerve). Symptoms include radiating pain, numbness, and weakness due to the compression of any of the nerve roots in your neck. This disorder generally does not require surgery.