Car Accident Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys in Ohio

Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys in Ohio

If you suffered any type of spinal injury, damaged vertebrae, or back injury due to another’s negligence, you should speak with the Ohio spine injury lawyers of Kisling, Nestico & Redick. You may be dealing with partial or complete paralysis and incredible back pain. Any of which can drastically alter your life, family, and ability to earn a living.

You deserve to have an experienced attorney who can seek the maximum compensation and hold the right parties accountable. Call KNR at 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free consultation.

Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

Anything that results in a sudden blow to the spine or spinal column can result in a fractured vertebra and other spinal trauma.

Common accidents and incidents where spinal cord injuries are frequently seen include:

• Car Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Commercial Truck Accidents
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Slip and Falls
• Negligent Security
• Medical Malpractice
• Bike Accidents
• Work Accidents

Common Spinal Cord & Back Injuries

The unexpected forces exerted on the body during accidents can lead to a wide range of injuries, some involving soft tissue like muscles and tendons and others involving the bones. While some back injuries need only time and rest to heal, others will require more than one surgery, advanced pain management techniques, and months of physical therapy.

Even after a great deal of pain, effort, and time, you may never fully recover. Spinal injuries can often leave you with limited mobility or paralysis.

Some of the most back and spine injuries include:

• Torn tissue – Your muscles, ligaments, and tendons can be pushed beyond their limits in an accident. These types of soft tissue can be overly stretched or torn, requiring repair surgery. You will need rest to recover, plus pain management and physical therapy. Depending on the injury, it is possible that you will never regain the range of movement, flexibility, or strength you once had.
• Fractured vertebrae – There are 24 vertebrae in your back separated by 23 individual discs made up of fibers and a jelly-like center. These vertebrae are like any other bone in your body, they can crack, chip, or split apart when put under a great deal of pressure. Accidents can fracture one or more vertebrae in your back, which requires surgery to correct. With or without surgical intervention, you will need a great deal of time to recover from this type of injury as well as pain management. You may also need physical therapy to regain movement, flexibility, and strength.
• Herniated discs – The discs between your vertebrae are meant to stay in place, absorb the pressure exerted on your spine, and allow for flexibility. However, too much force or sudden movement can cause the discs to bulge outward or herniate. A bulged disk is one that has been shifted out of its proper position. A herniated disc is when the outside fibers break, and a portion of the inner gel-like substance pushes outward. This generally requires surgery to repair as well as physical therapy. It can also be incredibly painful and lead to nerve damage.
• Nerve damage – There are many nerves running through your body, including in your back, pelvic region, and legs. Damage to the soft tissue, bones, and discs can also affect the nerves, leading from minor to serious damage. Nerve pain can present as numbness, tingling, and weakness. It can also feel like burning, cold, or sharp pain. It is also important to note that the longer the underlying cause of nerve damage goes untreated, the more damage the nerves sustain and the longer it will take them to heal – a process that can take years.
• Spinal cord damage – When there is a great deal of damage to your spine, it is possible for your spinal cord to be damaged, partially, or fully severed. This can lead to mobility and sensory issues, including full or partial paralysis, depending on where your spinal cord was injured.

Spinal Cord Damage: The Location of the Injury Matters

The location of a spinal cord injury dictates which parts of your body are affected. If your spinal cord is injured in the cervical region, high up on your spine, then you could lose all or some movement and feeling from your neck downward, including your arms.

Spinal Injuries: Types of Paralysis

If you suffered a spinal cord injury, your main concern is partial or full paralysis. If you lose all or some ability to use your legs, this is known as paraplegia. You may be completely paralyzed from the waist or hips downward, or you may only suffer minor mobility and sensory issues. If your injury was relatively minor compared to what is possible, you may have to live with decreased sensation or tingling in your legs from nerve damage.

Quadriplegia

Quadriplegia, or tetraplegia as it is called by many physicians, is an injury that affects all four of your limbs and torso. Like with all spinal cord injuries, the degree to which you lose the ability to feel and move depends on the extent of your injury. Your spinal cord injury may be so severe that it affects your ability to breathe. It may also be less severe, enabling you to retain some feeling or movement in some parts of your body.

How Spinal Injuries Impact Lives

One of the many important distinctions is whether the spinal cord injury is partial or complete. A complete spinal cord injury means you lose all functioning below the injury location. You will have no feeling or sensation from the point where you were injured on your spine and below. You can suffer a complete injury without the spinal cord being severed.

A total loss of function can occur when the spinal cord is severely stretched or crushed. A partial or incomplete spinal cord injury means you may retain some sensation or function below the injury. There is no way to entirely know what you will keep or lose after an injury, and it is impossible to predict how much more feeling or movement you will get back over time.

Paralysis: Physical Consequences

If you suffer from full or partial paralysis, you will have to discuss your injury’s lesser-known and more sensitive consequences with your physicians and attorney. This is necessary to fully articulate your injuries and calculate the compensation you deserve.

You have likely lost some or all ability to control your bowel and bladder movements. This can result in constipation and urinary retention or incontinence. Urinary retention and other issues can lead to frequent bladder infections, kidney inflammation or distention, and renal failure.

You may have lost the ability to fully participate in or enjoy sex. If you are married, this can dramatically impact your relationship. However, there are medicinal ways to treat male erectile dysfunction and female sexual issues. It can be embarrassing to discuss with your attorney, though it is necessary to ensure you seek the compensation you deserve.

Paralysis can also cause circulation, blood clots, pressure sores, skin issues, infections, and other side effects. When you are unable to routinely exercise parts of your body, other systems and organs can be affected. You will need to work closely with your physicians and care providers to avoid some of these common consequences of paralysis.

Paralysis: Psychological Effects

In addition to all the physical changes of a spinal cord injury, you may suffer emotionally. As an able-bodied person for most of your life, a sudden traumatic injury results in anger, resentment, grief, and other strong emotions. You must go through a grieving process to come to terms with your body’s new limitations and what that means for your future. The inability to live the way you used to can naturally result in depression.

Spinal Cord Injuries: Damages & Compensation

Depending on the severity of the damage to the spine and other factors involved, you may be able to recover compensation for the assorted economic and non-economic damages stemming from your injury. This could be the difference in recovering the wages you lost or will lose because you can no longer work, getting the medical care you need, and modifying your home to me your new mobility needs.

If you or a loved one suffered a spinal injury because of another’s negligent or careless act, you could pursue an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. Depending on the nature of your injuries, you may be able to recover your:

• Past & Future Medical expenses
• Loss of income
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Pain and Suffering
• Mental Anguish
• Loss of Consortium

If a spinal injury resulted in a loved one’s untimely death, a family may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim.

Evaluating Losses & Maximizing Your Spinal Injury Claim

Kisling, Nestico & Redick can assess the factors that caused your accident and help you pursue max compensation, whether through negotiation or by taking your case to court. No matter if your spinal injury resulted from a car crash, medical malpractice, or a fall at work, insurance companies know these are expensive injuries to treat. These large companies will put a lot of effort into reducing what they owe and diminishing the harm done.

We will fully document what a spinal cord injury cost you and what you will need to recover. This includes money for ongoing medical care, your pain and suffering, and any damage to your ability to earn a living. Once we know what your injury and experiences are worth, we’ll aggressively pursue a settlement that covers all of it.

How Our Spinal Injury Lawyers Can Help

Spinal cord injury cases are complex – legally and medically. The severity of your injury and circumstances around what caused it will significantly affect how your case moves forward.

For instance, if you are dealing with full paralysis, your compensation should consider the long-term care and compensation you’ll need. Likewise, if you suffer a bulging disc because a negligent driver hit you while they were working, their employer may share liability. In addition, spinal injuries usually require insight from medical professionals to illustrate what you went through.

A skilled lawyer can make liability clear to an insurance company who is usually focused on profitability and potentially show what you endured because of a spine injury to a judge or jury. Your attorney will work with your physicians and medical experts to delve into the consequences of this injury on your life, including the effects on your functioning and ability to live independently, work, and interact with others.

At KNR, our spine injury attorneys will:

• Answer your questions and concerns
• Keep you updated during all stages of the process
• Obtain medical records about the extent of your injury
• Identify the responsible party
• Determine the fair and full value of your damages
• Negotiate for maximum compensation
• Fight for everything you deserve in court if necessary

Contact KNR’s Spinal Cord Injury Team

Do not hesitate to seek legal advice if you suffered a spinal cord injury in an accident caused by another person’s carelessness or recklessness. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our capable personal injury attorneys have years of experience representing individuals with minor to severe spinal cord injuries and seeking compensation for them based on both economic and non-economic factors. Our goal will be to make the process as clear as possible and secure the maximum compensation you deserve.

Call us today at 1-800-HURT-NOW to schedule an initial consultation and learn more.