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Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Denver, CO

Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Denver, CO

Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Denver, COPersonal injury lawyers often deal with spinal cord injury claims. This is because you can receive a spinal cord injury in various accidents, and there are many kinds of spinal cord injuries. If you or a family member suffers from a spinal cord injury, you can reach out to a brain injury lawyer in Denver, CO, to further consider your options.

What Is A Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury is defined as any damage to your spinal cord or nerves at the end of the cord, which is called your cauda equina. This type of injury causes permanent changes to your strength, sensations and other bodily functions below the injury site. 

You can feel the effects of your injury emotionally, mentally and physically. 

Types of Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries come in two “types”. These types dictate what parts of your body is affected by your injury.

A complete spinal cord injury causes permanent damage to the area of the cord that’s affected. Paraplegia or tetraplegia are the results of total spinal cord injuries. Tetraplegia is better known as quadriplegia and is the inability to move the upper and lower parts of your body. Paraplegia is the paralysis of the legs and lower body. 

Levels of Spinal Cord Injuries

There are four sections of spinal cord, and therefore four levels of spinal cord injuries. By understanding the levels of spinal cord injuries, you can understand what levels go together to cause paraplegia or quadriplegia. 

The levels are:

  • Cervical 
  • Thoracic
  • Lumbar
  • Sacral

What Does Each Section of the Spine Affect? 

Cervical spinal cord injuries affect your head and neck above the shoulders. This is the most severe form of spinal cord injury, because it’s closer to the brain and affects a larger portion of your body. This is the spinal cord injury you’d have if you have tetraplegia. 

The thoracic spine is located in the upper and middle back. There are twelve vertebrae in the thoracic spine—T-1 to T-12. The number corresponds to the nerve located in that section of the spinal cord. 

T-1 to T-5 affects your muscles, upper chest, mid-back and abdominals. These nerves control your lungs, rib cage, and muscles that help you breathe. T-6 through T-12 controls your back muscles and abdominals, such as being able to cough. 

The lumbar spine has five vertebrae, L1 to L5. The lumbar region carries the most weight of all the regions, and has larger vertebrae than the cervical and thoracic. Injuries to this region can cause loss of function in the hips and legs, but have zero effect on the rest of the body. 

The sacral region has four bones, S1 to S4. They affect the hips, groin area, medial buttock area, perineal area and the backs of the thighs. Organs affected by injuries to this area are the bladder, bowel and your sex organs. 

If you or a family member is the victim of a spinal cord injury and wish to pursue a personal injury lawsuit, reach out to a spinal cord lawyer in Denver, CO, from the law firm of Richard J. Banta, PC.