Back Injury FAQ
Serving West Virginia and Ohio
What exactly is injured when you hurt your back?
It could be any of these elements:
- Muscles
- Bones of the spine
- Cartilage pads between the spinal bones (vertebrae)
- Nerves that run through the vertebrae
- The spinal cord itself
The most severe back injuries are to the spinal cord. For the spinal cord to be injured, the spinal bones that encase it have to be injured. All things being equal, the spinal cord is well-protected by the vertebrae. But when these bones are knocked out of alignment, or cracked, the delicate nervous tissue is easily damaged.
When the nerves are damaged, intense pain can result, and also numbness or paralysis. These would be felt in whatever part of the body the damaged nerve runs to. Back muscles can be injured without the nerves or spinal cord being hurt, and these would be comparatively minor injuries.
What is the spinal cord?
It is a long cluster of nerve cells and nerve fibers known as axons, that runs from the brain, through the spinal column (the backbone), to about waist level. Along with the brain, it comprises the central nervous system. By contrast, there is also the peripheral nervous system, which consists of the network of nerves that runs over the entire body. It sends messages from the brain such as “Catch that ball!” and brings information back to the brain, such as “Ouch! That’s hot!”
The central and peripheral nervous systems are both part of the overall nervous system of the human body, and they’re like a mass of twigs that connect to branches, that connect to a trunk, the main highway to the brain, which is the spinal cord.
How does spinal cord injury affect the body?
In general, it will impair either sensation (e.g. temperature, texture, and wind) or movement, or both. Depending on which part of the spinal cord is damaged, the results will be noticed in different areas of the body. There are four sections of the spinal cord, each one controlling a different part of the body:
- Cervical – the top eight vertebrae enclose this section and the nerves running out through these vertebrae from the spinal cord control the neck, shoulders, arms, hands, back of the head, and diaphragm. Read more about neck injuries
- Thoracic – the next twelve vertebrae, whose nerves control the torso and some parts of the arms.
- Upper Lumbar – the next five vertebrae, whose nerves control the hips and legs.
- Sacral – the lowest five vertebrae, whose nerves control some parts of the legs, the groin and the toes. The sacral bones are fused together, rather than being separated by cushioning pads.
A complete spinal injury causes paralysis and lack of sensation in the body from that point downwards. Quadriplegia is the term for paralysis of both arms and both legs; paraplegia refers to paralysis of both legs. In quadriplegia all the body organs may also be non-functional, so that a respirator will be necessary, a pacemaker, bladder and bowel assistance, etc.
A partial spinal injury allows the patient to move or feel with one limb more than the other and creates one-of-a-kind impairment, each person’s injury being unique to him.
As you can see from this very brief set of questions and answers, back injuries can be permanently disabling, or minor and temporary, and everything in between. Jim Leach and his associates in their West Virginia offices have worked for many years with back injury patients, working to win compensation for their loss of quality of life and earning capacity, and for their pain and suffering. Medical costs can run very high indeed for back injury treatments, and lifelong living assistance might be required. Automobile accidents and motorcycle accidents are frequent causes of back injury.
If you or a loved one have incurred severe back injury, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will listen to what happened, ask questions, and begin to build a case for you. We can draw on many expert medical witnesses, who will study your medical records and gather important information for your claim. Please email or call us today to set up your free initial consultation.
Our back injury lawyer represent back injury victims throughout West Virginia and Southern Ohio including the communities of Belpre, Marietta, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Athens, Jackson, Vienna, Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington, Ravenswood and Ripley.
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