Possible Health Complications From Paralysis

Paralysis is already a serious medical condition, though it can lead to other serious and even life-threatening secondary complications. After a spinal injury, seek help from a San Francisco  Paralysis Attorney as soon as possible. 

If you suffered a complete spinal injury in an accident, your life has completely changed. You likely cannot walk, need a wheelchair and other assistive devices, and may need help with your everyday tasks and care.

You might not be able to work any longer and may rely on disability benefits moving forward. As if all of this is not enough, there are additional health complications that can develop as a result of being paralyzed. 

If someone else was to blame for your spinal cord injury, they should be responsible for covering all of your losses that stem from the injury. This should include the costs of addressing and treating secondary complications of your paralysis. 

These situations are complicated, and the stakes are often high, so you need a San Francisco paralysis attorney handling your claim from the very beginning. 

Understanding Paralysis

The term paralysis refers to the loss of muscle strength and control, often in a group of muscles in the body. Paralysis most commonly results from a misfire of messages from the brain through your spinal cord and nerves to the muscles.

Complete spinal injuries completely cut off such messages, resulting in a permanent general paralysis condition. 

General paralysis from spinal injuries occurs below the point of the injury, and it might be classified as:

1. Paraplegia – Impacting both legs and often parts of your torso
2. Quadriplegia – Impacting both legs, the torso, both arms, and even the entire body below the neck, including some organ functioning.

In either case, paralysis from spinal injuries prevents a victim from walking, and they are usually confined to a wheelchair following the injury. 

Secondary Complications

Not only is losing the ability to walk and move difficult to deal with but losing movement and sensation abilities can cause you to develop other serious health concerns.

Anyone living with paralysis should be aware of these risks and seek medical attention right away for any secondary complications. 

Edema

Edema is the medical term for swelling, which is common in paralyzed limbs due to fluid buildup. Blood and other fluids can pool in the legs or arms due to gravity when a patient does not move enough. You should also undergo a medical evaluation, as swelling can be a sign of other complications. 

Heterotopic ossification

This involves the abnormal growth of bones into your soft tissue in paralyzed body parts. Your brain and body can miscommunicate after paralysis, which can result in bone cells multiplying and protruding into places they should not be growing. This can cause swelling and other problems. 

Deep vein thrombosis 

DVT happens when blood clots develop in the veins in your legs, often due to a lack of physical activity. This condition needs immediate medical attention and often medication, such as blood thinners, to treat. If DVT goes untreated, the blood clot might migrate to the lungs, resulting in life-threatening pulmonary embolism. 

Upper extremity injuries

If you have paraplegia and are in a wheelchair, pushing the chair around and navigating the world with only your arms functioning can place a lot of additional stress on your upper body.

Many people with paralysis suffer soft tissue injuries in their shoulders, neck, and arms that require physical therapy or other treatment. 

Skin issues

Being confined to a wheelchair and losing sensation in the skin can result in several potential complications, such as:

1. Excessive sweating
2. Friction burns
3. Callus formation
4. Pressure ulcers (also known as pressure sores or bedsores)

These skin conditions, especially pressure ulcers, can worsen without proper treatment. 

Sepsis

Sepsis is also known as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) or blood poisoning, and it is a life-threatening medical condition. Sepsis can develop when the body responds to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissue.

If you have paralysis, it is common to develop pressure sore infections, urinary tract infections (UTIs), pneumonia, or another type of infection that can cause sepsis to develop. 

If you do not receive the proper and immediate medical care for sepsis, it can lead to:

1. Septic shock
2. Multiple organ failure
3. Death

Septic shock results from a significant drop in blood pressure from severe cases of sepsis that lead to organ failure. It is often critical to begin treating sepsis within the first hour it sets in to avoid life-threatening results. Anyone with paralysis who develops an infection should be monitored by medical professionals for possible sepsis. 

Mental conditions

While a spinal injury and paralysis are physical conditions, they can lead to mental conditions as well. Paralysis is a condition that completely changes life as you know it, and this can lead to anxiety and depression in victims.

If the accident that caused the paralysis was traumatizing in itself, a victim might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Paralysis victims should get the psychological treatment they need to address these conditions. 

Compensation for Complications and Treatment

Because of the high potential of secondary complications, paralysis victims might have ongoing medical bills for the rest of their lives. When you file a personal injury claim against the party that caused your accident and injuries, you need to address these future expenses, as well as medical bills you have already received. 

Determining your future estimated medical costs can be a complex process, and our attorneys regularly work with medical experts to know how much to demand for your future losses. This might include expenses of:

1. Hospitalization
2. Doctor visits
3. Rehabilitation
4. Home health assistance
5. New adaptive devices
6. Medications for infections and pain relief
7. Psychological treatment

Proving future losses can be challenging, but you should not be responsible for covering these yourself. 

Contact a San Francisco, CA Paralysis Attorney Today

At The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc., we know the losses from catastrophic injuries are ongoing, and we know how to address these future losses in your injury claim. If you or a loved one is paralyzed from an accident, you should be aware of your legal rights and options. Call (415) 433-0444 or contact us online for a free case evaluation as soon as you can.