7 Tips for Recovering from a Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injuries are some of the most severe harm you can suffer in an accident. Recovery can be painful, expensive, and lengthy. You could lose the ability to feel, walk, or even take care of yourself temporarily or permanently. Your spinal cord injury symptoms could include loss of motor function, loss of sensation, sexual function, and more, depending on the severity of your injury.

Recovery is an important part of getting your life back. A spinal cord injury lawyer can provide a personal injury consultation of your case to help you recover both financially and physically. To get started on your recovery, follow these 7 tips for recovering from a spinal cord injury.

Tips for a Successful Recovery From a Spinal Cord Injury

The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that runs the length of the entire spine. The spinal cord is critical to many bodily functions and spinal injuries can cause devastating losses. Different injury levels will result in different symptoms, but you want to recover the best you can after the initial injury. These tips can help you recover from a spinal cord injury:

Assess Your Level of Injury and Timeline

Your level of injury is usually based on the severity of the harm you suffered. Types of spinal cord injury levels include:

• Complete Injuries: Complete spinal cord injuries cause permanent damage to your spinal cord. They may result in paraplegia, quadriplegia, and other levels of paralysis.
• Incomplete Injuries: Incomplete spinal cord injuries cause partial damage to the spinal cord. Symptoms will depend on the area of the spine affected and the significance of the injury.
• Primary Injuries: Primary injuries are the direct and immediate damage caused by the injury.
• Secondary Injuries: Secondary spinal cord injuries result from swelling or inflammation that can harm your vertebrae and spinal cord.

Your level of injury will also affect your recovery timeline. Speak with a medical professional about the expected recovery time and what you must do to recover from your spinal cord injuries.

Get Your Compensation With the Right Personal Injury Attorney

The right personal injury lawyer can help you win compensation for your spinal cord injuries. When a negligent party causes your harm, you could be entitled to financial compensation such as:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Costs of surgeries and rehabilitation
• Property damages from the accident
• Cost of assistive devices to accommodate a new disability
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium
• Wrongful death damages
• Punitive damages (in limited cases)

Get Therapy for Any Additional Impaired Sensory Functions

Spinal cord injuries often cause additional impaired sensory functions, such as:

• Loss of sexual function
• Loss of sensation or paralysis in areas of the body
• Neurogenic shock
• Loss of sight or hearing from traumatic brain injuries
• Tingling or numbness in extremities
• Loss of bladder function and resulting urinary tract infections

Therapy and rehabilitation can often bring these functions back or repair them to a certain degree. Ensure you get the therapy you need to best recover after a spinal cord injury.

Rely on Your Medical Team for Support

Your medical team is your primary resource for tips on recovering from a spinal cord injury. You should follow their directions and work closely with your team to work on your recovery. Speak to your medical team about your physical symptoms, limitations, and difficulties. They are there to help you recover your physical abilities and repair your body.

You can also rely on your medical team to address the psychological trauma you are going through. These injuries affect your whole life, and you may now be experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other psychological effects. Your doctors and other medical staff can also help you work through these issues. You are not alone in your recovery process.

Attend All Physical Rehabilitation Appointments

Attendance at every scheduled rehabilitation appointment is critical to your recovery. Missing even a single appointment can harm your health and your ability to recover. Physical rehabilitation is not easy, especially after a spinal cord injury. You may find it difficult to do the exercises and it may even be painful. Your hard work now may do wonders for your ultimate physical and mental recovery.

Your attendance may also have an impact on your personal injury claim. As your spinal cord injury attorney will tell you, missing rehabilitation appointments may affect your financial recovery. The other side may argue that you contributed to your damages because you chose not to participate in rehabilitation. They will attempt to reduce what they owe you by arguing you made your symptoms worse.

Your health is most important, but both reasons demonstrate why it is so important to attend all scheduled rehabilitation. Follow all directions from your medical team and attend all rehabilitation appointments you have scheduled.

Take Your Time With Recovery

Recovery takes time — don't expect to rush it. Take all the time you need to recover and prioritize your health. This is often easier said than done. You have work, hobbies, family functions, and much more you want to do. You want your life to go back to normal. When you take the time and do it right, recovery is more likely to be successful. 

Patience and hard work will also help your mental health. When you let yourself take the necessary time, you will reduce stress, anxiety, and other psychological harm.

Try Aerobic Exercises When and if You Are Able To

Aerobic exercises can help you maintain your health after a spinal cord injury. Many with these injuries become sedentary and deal with weight-related issues. People with spinal cord damage are also more likely to suffer from high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and cardiovascular disease.

Aerobic exercises such as yoga, swimming, wheelchair sports, exercise bands, and more could help you stay healthy even during your recovery. Of course, always pick exercises you can do that are approved by your medical team. Consult your doctor and rehabilitation specialists about exercising after a spinal cord injury.

Get the Compensation You Deserve for Your Traumatic Injury

Spinal cord injuries are traumatic to your body, mental health, and finances. You could struggle to pay medical bills, support yourself and your family, and live a normal life. You deserve financial compensation if someone else caused your harm. 

The Spence Law Firm is a Wyoming-based personal injury law firm representing clients throughout the United States. We know how traumatic a spinal cord injury can be and what it might do to your life. Our spinal cord injury attorneys will seek the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a consultation on your case.