Dec
23
Whiplash and Other Neck Injuries Cause Host of Problems
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Lynn Fugaro asked:
Thousands of Americans suffer from episodes of acute or persistent neck pain each year as a result of injury, strain, overuse or aging. Problems in your cervical spine (the first seven bones in the neck running from the base of the brain to just past the shoulder blades) require assessment and treatment to prevent further, more permanent damage. The cervical spine houses the spinal cord, and the spinal cord is the most delicate tissue in the entire body. Even minor damage to the spinal cord cannot be repaired. Untreated spinal cord injuries can lead to irreversible damage.
Whiplash is a non-medical term used to describe neck pain following an injury to the soft tissues of your neck (specifically ligaments, tendons, and muscles). It is caused by an accidental motion or force applied to your neck that results in movement beyond the neck’s normal range of motion.
Whiplash most often happens in vehicle accidents, sporting activities, accidental falls, and cases of assault. Other, more “medical” terms for whiplash include acceleration flexion-extension neck injury and soft tissue cervical hyperextension injury. Your doctor may use the more specific terms of cervical sprain, cervical strain or hyperextension injury. Regardless of the terms used, whiplash can be painful and can be much more serious than initially thought.
As common as neck pain is, the cause of it is not always obvious. Some of the most common causes of neck pain are:
· Injury and accidents: A sudden forced movement of the head or neck in any direction and the resulting rebound of the head or neck in the opposite direction is known as whiplash. This sudden whipping motion causes injury to the surrounding and supporting tissues of the neck and head. Severe whiplash can also be related to injury to the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, muscles and nerve roots. Car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash. Work-related accidents, sports accidents and industrial accidents often cause neck injuries.
· Age: Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease affect the spine in various ways and cause a progressive deterioration of cartilage.
· Daily life: Poor posture, being overweight and having weak abdominal muscles can all affect the spine’s balance, causing the neck to bend forward to compensate. This can result in pain and stiffness.
Treatment for Neck Injury
There are a variety of treatments for neck injuries that your doctor may recommend. You may have to wear a neck brace, have surgery, receive physical therapy and/or take medications. In four to six weeks, the majority of patients with neck pain improve without surgery, and less than 5% of neck problems require surgery at all.
What You Can Do
If you are suffering from whiplash or some other serious neck injury due to the negligence of someone else, you may be entitled to compensatory damage for your injury and subsequent losses. Damages may include medical costs, lost income, future lost earnings, pain and suffering, mental anguish and disability. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases varies from state to state, but usually the time frame is limited.
HALLENBECK
Thousands of Americans suffer from episodes of acute or persistent neck pain each year as a result of injury, strain, overuse or aging. Problems in your cervical spine (the first seven bones in the neck running from the base of the brain to just past the shoulder blades) require assessment and treatment to prevent further, more permanent damage. The cervical spine houses the spinal cord, and the spinal cord is the most delicate tissue in the entire body. Even minor damage to the spinal cord cannot be repaired. Untreated spinal cord injuries can lead to irreversible damage.
Whiplash is a non-medical term used to describe neck pain following an injury to the soft tissues of your neck (specifically ligaments, tendons, and muscles). It is caused by an accidental motion or force applied to your neck that results in movement beyond the neck’s normal range of motion.
Whiplash most often happens in vehicle accidents, sporting activities, accidental falls, and cases of assault. Other, more “medical” terms for whiplash include acceleration flexion-extension neck injury and soft tissue cervical hyperextension injury. Your doctor may use the more specific terms of cervical sprain, cervical strain or hyperextension injury. Regardless of the terms used, whiplash can be painful and can be much more serious than initially thought.
As common as neck pain is, the cause of it is not always obvious. Some of the most common causes of neck pain are:
· Injury and accidents: A sudden forced movement of the head or neck in any direction and the resulting rebound of the head or neck in the opposite direction is known as whiplash. This sudden whipping motion causes injury to the surrounding and supporting tissues of the neck and head. Severe whiplash can also be related to injury to the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, muscles and nerve roots. Car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash. Work-related accidents, sports accidents and industrial accidents often cause neck injuries.
· Age: Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease affect the spine in various ways and cause a progressive deterioration of cartilage.
· Daily life: Poor posture, being overweight and having weak abdominal muscles can all affect the spine’s balance, causing the neck to bend forward to compensate. This can result in pain and stiffness.
Treatment for Neck Injury
There are a variety of treatments for neck injuries that your doctor may recommend. You may have to wear a neck brace, have surgery, receive physical therapy and/or take medications. In four to six weeks, the majority of patients with neck pain improve without surgery, and less than 5% of neck problems require surgery at all.
What You Can Do
If you are suffering from whiplash or some other serious neck injury due to the negligence of someone else, you may be entitled to compensatory damage for your injury and subsequent losses. Damages may include medical costs, lost income, future lost earnings, pain and suffering, mental anguish and disability. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases varies from state to state, but usually the time frame is limited.
HALLENBECK
Sep
4
The Spinal Cord
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Patricia Woloch asked:
A spinal cord is the pathway that processes impulses from the body to the brain, and from the brain to the body. The impulses sent by the spinal cord are different signals our brain sends and receives from our bodies.
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are usually caused by a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that dislocates or fractures vertebrae. The most common causes of SCIs are trauma, such as car accidents, falls or even gunshot wounds. Certain diseases can also result in SCI.
The effects of an SCI can depend on the type of injury and the level of the injury sustained. An SCI can be divided into two types of injury - complete and incomplete.
A complete SCI injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury. That means no sensation and no voluntary movement and both sides of the body are equally affected. An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury. A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, and may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other.
The level of injury is very helpful in predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function. In incomplete injuries there will probably be some variation in these prognoses.
The area the SCI occurs is also crucial. SCIs are classified according to the area on the spine where they occur. For example, injuries above the C-4 level may require a ventilator for the person to breathe. C-5 injuries often result in shoulder and biceps control, but no control at the wrist or hand. C-6 injuries generally yield wrist control, but no hand function. Individuals with C-7 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms but still may have dexterity problems with the hand and fingers. Injuries at the thoracic level and below result in paraplegia, with the hands not affected. At T-1 to T-8 there is most often control of the hands, but poor trunk control as the result of lack of abdominal muscle control. Lower T-injuries (T-9 to T-12) allow good truck control and good abdominal muscle control. Sitting balance is very good. Lumbar and Sacral injuries yield decreasing control of the hip flexors and legs.
Besides a loss of sensation or motor functioning, individuals with SCI also experience other changes. For example, they may experience dysfunction of the bowel and bladder. Sexual functioning is frequently a problem with SCI and many male sufferers may have their fertility affected, while women’s fertility is generally not affected. Very high injuries (C-1, C-2) can result in a loss of many involuntary functions including the ability to breathe, necessitating breathing aids such as mechanical ventilators or diaphragmatic pacemakers. Other effects of SCI may include low blood pressure, inability to regulate blood pressure effectively, reduced control of body temperature, inability to sweat below the level of injury, and chronic pain
Approximately 450,000 people live with SCI in the US. There are about 10,000 new SCIs every year, with the majority of them involving males between the ages of 16-30. Thousands of personal injury lawsuits are filed yearly as a result of SCIs.
MCKAGUE
A spinal cord is the pathway that processes impulses from the body to the brain, and from the brain to the body. The impulses sent by the spinal cord are different signals our brain sends and receives from our bodies.
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are usually caused by a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that dislocates or fractures vertebrae. The most common causes of SCIs are trauma, such as car accidents, falls or even gunshot wounds. Certain diseases can also result in SCI.
The effects of an SCI can depend on the type of injury and the level of the injury sustained. An SCI can be divided into two types of injury - complete and incomplete.
A complete SCI injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury. That means no sensation and no voluntary movement and both sides of the body are equally affected. An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury. A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, and may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other.
The level of injury is very helpful in predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function. In incomplete injuries there will probably be some variation in these prognoses.
The area the SCI occurs is also crucial. SCIs are classified according to the area on the spine where they occur. For example, injuries above the C-4 level may require a ventilator for the person to breathe. C-5 injuries often result in shoulder and biceps control, but no control at the wrist or hand. C-6 injuries generally yield wrist control, but no hand function. Individuals with C-7 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms but still may have dexterity problems with the hand and fingers. Injuries at the thoracic level and below result in paraplegia, with the hands not affected. At T-1 to T-8 there is most often control of the hands, but poor trunk control as the result of lack of abdominal muscle control. Lower T-injuries (T-9 to T-12) allow good truck control and good abdominal muscle control. Sitting balance is very good. Lumbar and Sacral injuries yield decreasing control of the hip flexors and legs.
Besides a loss of sensation or motor functioning, individuals with SCI also experience other changes. For example, they may experience dysfunction of the bowel and bladder. Sexual functioning is frequently a problem with SCI and many male sufferers may have their fertility affected, while women’s fertility is generally not affected. Very high injuries (C-1, C-2) can result in a loss of many involuntary functions including the ability to breathe, necessitating breathing aids such as mechanical ventilators or diaphragmatic pacemakers. Other effects of SCI may include low blood pressure, inability to regulate blood pressure effectively, reduced control of body temperature, inability to sweat below the level of injury, and chronic pain
Approximately 450,000 people live with SCI in the US. There are about 10,000 new SCIs every year, with the majority of them involving males between the ages of 16-30. Thousands of personal injury lawsuits are filed yearly as a result of SCIs.
MCKAGUE
Jul
30
Water/boating Safety
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Patricia Woloch asked:
It is estimated that recreational and commercial boating has nearly tripled over the last decade, with over 14 million boats and personal watercraft currently registered in the United States today. The number of boats has increased by over 2 million since the late 1980’s, crowding the limited space of our country’s rivers, lakes, and waterways. This level of growth in boat use has inevitably led to an increase in related boating accidents. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there are currently over 8,600 boat crashes each year, and these accidents leave over 900 people dead and almost 4,500 seriously injured.
Typically, powerboats such as speed boats, cabin cruisers and jet skis are the most common types of watercraft to be involved in boating accidents, although sailboats can also be involved in accidents. The most frequent sources of injuries seem to be caused by propeller accidents and collisions. Also, because personal watercraft such as jet skis can’t be steered when the throttle is released, inexperienced drivers often have collisions when confronted with an emergency situation.
The most common causes of boating accidents include:
• Capsizing
• Sinking or flooding
• Falls overboard
• Collisions
• Fire
• Explosions
• Disappearance
• Bad weather conditions
Serious personal injury and even death can occur due to a boating accident, as well as from a person falling over the side of a boat and drowning.
Even if injuries from the boating accident appear minor it is advised to seek medical evaluation. Often times an injury from a boating accident may be underestimated and the boating accident injury can later cause continued pain, further injuries, and essentially more financial burdens. A boating accident attorney can seek damages appropriate to the injuries sustained, and in the event that further medical treatment will be needed for the boating accident injuries compensation can reflect that.
The attorneys at Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC are experienced in boat accident litigation and can help you pursue fair compensation in cases involving:
• Drunk boaters – boating under the influence of alcohol
• Water skiing accidents
• Jet ski accidents
• Recklessness of other boaters
• Overcrowding conditions
• Failure to provide personal floatation devices
• Speeding
• Any other violations of state boating laws
STEINKAMP
It is estimated that recreational and commercial boating has nearly tripled over the last decade, with over 14 million boats and personal watercraft currently registered in the United States today. The number of boats has increased by over 2 million since the late 1980’s, crowding the limited space of our country’s rivers, lakes, and waterways. This level of growth in boat use has inevitably led to an increase in related boating accidents. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there are currently over 8,600 boat crashes each year, and these accidents leave over 900 people dead and almost 4,500 seriously injured.
Typically, powerboats such as speed boats, cabin cruisers and jet skis are the most common types of watercraft to be involved in boating accidents, although sailboats can also be involved in accidents. The most frequent sources of injuries seem to be caused by propeller accidents and collisions. Also, because personal watercraft such as jet skis can’t be steered when the throttle is released, inexperienced drivers often have collisions when confronted with an emergency situation.
The most common causes of boating accidents include:
• Capsizing
• Sinking or flooding
• Falls overboard
• Collisions
• Fire
• Explosions
• Disappearance
• Bad weather conditions
Serious personal injury and even death can occur due to a boating accident, as well as from a person falling over the side of a boat and drowning.
Even if injuries from the boating accident appear minor it is advised to seek medical evaluation. Often times an injury from a boating accident may be underestimated and the boating accident injury can later cause continued pain, further injuries, and essentially more financial burdens. A boating accident attorney can seek damages appropriate to the injuries sustained, and in the event that further medical treatment will be needed for the boating accident injuries compensation can reflect that.
The attorneys at Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC are experienced in boat accident litigation and can help you pursue fair compensation in cases involving:
• Drunk boaters – boating under the influence of alcohol
• Water skiing accidents
• Jet ski accidents
• Recklessness of other boaters
• Overcrowding conditions
• Failure to provide personal floatation devices
• Speeding
• Any other violations of state boating laws
STEINKAMP