While any severe injury can be life-altering, few impact your life as significantly as paralysis. Paralysis means that you have lost some or all of the function and feeling in some part of your body. Even the mildest cases impact your ability to perform daily tasks. At the same time, systemic total paralysis can completely disrupt the quality of life.
Paralysis has a few different causes. Some are organic and outside of anyone’s control. However, many of them are due to someone’s reckless actions. If someone’s negligence led to your paralysis, you may be entitled to a substantial recovery. A Bee Cave paralysis injury lawyer can review the circumstances of your case and advise you of your potential rights and remedies. Our catastrophic injury attorneys are ready to support you through a claim.
Paralysis refers to the loss of muscle function. It can be complete or incomplete, and it can be in an isolated area or the whole body. Sometimes, the loss of feeling accompanies it.
Generally, nerve damage causes paralysis, with spinal cord injuries being a leading cause. Injuries to nerves connecting part of the body to the spine or part of the spine to the rest of the nervous system impact movement, strength, and coordination. Sometimes, the impact is complete, resulting in total paralysis. Other times, the damage is incomplete, leaving people with some movement.
The degree and location of the paralysis may impact potential recovery amounts. A paralysis injury attorney in Bee Cave can guide appropriate settlement amounts.
There are three ways to describe paralysis: location, extent, and how it impacts the muscles. Medical professionals use all three to paint a complete picture of a person’s condition.
Usually, they start by describing the impacted area of the body. They use five terms to describe those areas — paraplegia, quadriplegia, monoplegia, diplegia, and hemiplegia. Hemiplegia means the paralysis impacts one side of the body. Diplegia means it impacts both sides of the body in the same location. Monoplegia impacts one limb. Paraplegia is paralysis in both legs. Quadriplegia is paralysis in all four limbs.
Complete paralysis means a person has no movement or feeling in the impacted area. Partial paralysis implies a person has movement or feeling in the impacted area. With partial paralysis, physical therapy and other interventions may lead to improvements in the person’s condition. With complete paralysis, the chances of any recovery are smaller. However, either type of paralysis can be permanent or temporary, depending on the cause.
Finally, doctors may use the terms flaccid or spastic. In flaccid paralysis, the muscles begin to atrophy and shrink. In spastic paralysis, the muscles tighten and can spasm and jerk. Spastic paralysis often indicates that there is some nerve function in the area. Still, it does not always suggest that recovery is possible.
A doctor is responsible for providing a diagnosis. A lawyer in Bee Cave can use that diagnosis to determine the costs of the paralysis injury. They use those actual costs to determine the damages to seek in a lawsuit or what settlement offer to accept.
Since paralysis can be temporary, recovering—at least partially—may be possible. After a complete medical evaluation, doctors can provide a realistic recovery outlook. When the spinal cord is severed, the paralysis is permanent since the spinal cord cannot regenerate.
However, even people with permanent paralysis need ongoing medical treatment and therapy. They need to prevent the muscles from atrophying as much as possible, learn to use other body parts for everyday living, and get help with everyday care. Some people who have permanent paralysis in a large part of their body may also struggle with breathing, regulating blood pressure, and regulating heart rate. It is essential to fully understand the health prognosis before agreeing to a settlement since lifelong care is expensive. An attorney in Bee Cave can evaluate a settlement offer for a paralysis injury and ensure it covers all losses.
Dealing with any traumatic injury can be overwhelming, and paralysis is one of the most traumatic injuries possible. It helps to know you have someone in your corner. Schedule a consultation with a Bee Cave paralysis injury lawyer. We can review your case and help determine if someone else was at fault. We can advise you of your potential remedies and any pertinent statute of limitations.