Spinal Cord Injury Treatments: Your Auto Accident Lawyer in Tampa Should Fight for Your Medical Needs

Whether you suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury in a Clearwater car accident or a complete spinal cord injury in a Tampa motorcycle collision, spinal cord injuries can affect every area of your body. On top of your loss of feeling and paralysis, a spinal cord injury can leave you with infections, chronic pain, cardiovascular problems, pneumonia, and more. If you hope to recover from a spinal cord injury and its complications, it is imperative that you have access to day-to-day medical care and observation.

Ongoing medical care is expensive. If your spinal cord injuries are covered by an insurance policy, such as auto insurance or health insurance, then the insurance company should fulfill its promise to pay for your medical treatment. To receive the payment you deserve and need for your injuries, often you will need an auto accident lawyer in Tampa Bay to step in and demand proper compensation.

Treatment for spinal cord injuries begins immediately in the emergency room. Once released from the hospital, other ongoing treatment options may continue indefinitely. With adequate treatment and care, some patients have experienced improvement in their spinal cord injury symptoms several years after their accident. Most of the time, however, improvement is not seen more than two years after the injury. Even if further improvement is impossible, a spinal cord injury patient still must fight the many complications of the condition along the way.

From the emergency room forward, here are some of the many spinal cord injury treatments that your auto accident lawyer in Tampa should ensure you have received or will receive:

• Maintaining your ability to breathe (mechanical ventilation)
• Temporary immobilization to prevent further damage
• Emergency surgery to repair your vertebrae, remove bone fragments, etc.
• Maintaining your blood pressure
• Devices to help you go to the bathroom (catheterization)
• Diagnostic tests to learn the extent of your injuries
• Medications like Medrol which may reduce inflammation and nerve cell damage
• Ongoing exercise for paralyzed limbs
• Preventing bedsores with lotions, special beds, and changes of position
• Rehabilitation to improve your muscle tone, mobility, and independence
• Counseling for you and your family
• Wheelchairs and other assistive equipment
• Electrical stimulation
• Surgery on damaged nerves to ease pain
• Modifying your home and vehicles for your disability
• Blood infusions for low blood pressure
• Pain medications
• Antibiotics
• Medications to control muscle spasms, blood clots, and improve bowel/bladder function
• Good nutrition and hygiene to encourage healthy skin and digestive function
• Psychological and emotional help to cope with the injury
• Prevention of new injuries

The above list of treatments is by no means exhaustive, but it does demonstrate why a car accident victim with spinal cord injuries is entitled to a large enough settlement to pay for a lifetime of medical care. In the Tampa Bay, Florida area, a spinal cord injury patient would need a team of neurosurgeons, medicine specialists, physical therapists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, orthopedic surgeons, occupational therapists, dieticians, recreational therapists, and contractors to maintain the patient's ability to survive the injury.

To speak with an auto accident lawyer in Tampa, Florida regarding your injuries or a loved one's injuries, please contact the Law Firm of Dale Appell, P.A. We will provide you with a free consultation and if we represent you, we will charge you nothing until there is a financial recovery in your case. From our convenient main location at Rocky Point in Tampa, we serve all of West Central Florida including Carrollwood, Dunedin, Citrus, Clearwater, Bradenton, Apollo Beach, Brandon, Dade City, St Petersburg, Sun City Center, and beyond.