Paralysis After Injury
There are certain injuries that you sustain in an accident, and despite these injuries, you can still make a partial recovery. Broken bones, herniated discs, and concussions are all injuries that are typically sustained in a car accident and that most people can recover from to a certain degree. While these injuries certainly can and do have a permanent effect on an accident victim’s future, they do not have the same impact on an accident victim’s life as paralysis, and unfortunately, the likelihood that you or a family member will be involved in a car accident that results in an injury resulting in paralysis can only be expected to increase as the number of car crashes in Broward and Miami-Dade County continue to rise. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), there were 38,409 car crashes in Broward County in 2015. In 2016, there were 41,755 car accidents in Broward County. This means that there was an increase of 3,346 car crashes from 2015 to 2016 in Broward County alone. In Miami-Dade County, the situation is strikingly similar. The DHSMV has indicated that there were 64,070 car crashes in 2016 and 65,986 in 2017 representing an increase of almost two thousand additional car crashes. Moreover, the crashes from both Broward and Miami-Dade County resulted in over 50,000 cases of injuries. In other words, being involved in a car accident at some point is almost inevitable, and an accident that leaves you paralyzed could change your life forever, which why understanding the causes and treatment options available to you, as an accident victim suffering from paralysis, is so important.Common Causes of Paralysis
Paralysis is often a symptom of either damage to the spine or damage to the brain. The trauma of a car accident can be so severe that it either bruises, partially tears, or completely severs your spinal cord, which typically results in partial or complete paralysis that can be either temporary or permanent. The same is true for an injury of to the brain. Often the impact of a car accident can cause an accident victim to sustain a blow to the skull that damages the brain. This type of injury is referred to as a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The fact is, you don’t have to sustain a skull fracture in order to have a TBI although skull fractures do typically result in brain injuries. Any type of bruising, swelling, or bleeding in your brain can lead to paralysis, and any blow to the skull that causes you to lose consciousness for more than six hours is usually categorized as a severe traumatic brain injury.Types of Paralysis
The type of paralysis you experience after being involved in an accident is dependent upon the nature and severity of your injuries. Moreover, some injuries do result in paralysis that is temporary. The different types of paralysis you could experience following an accident include:- Monoplegia: Paralysis affecting one limb only
- Hemiplegia: Paralysis affecting one side of the body
- Diplegia: Paralysis that affects the same area on both sides of the body such as both legs or both arms
- Paraplegia: Paralysis that affects both legs and in some cases, the lower half of the body
- Quadriplegia: Paralysis that affects both arms and legs. In some cases, this type of paralysis affects the body from the neck down.