Your daily commute to work in Baton Rouge is generally uneventful until you are sideswiped by an inattentive or aggressive driver. Afterwards, you begin to feel back pain. It is important to take this back pain seriously, as it could indicate a spinal cord injury.

When to assume you have a spinal cord injury

When you are in a car accident and suffer traumatic injuries to your back, it is safe to assume you may have a spinal cord injury until tests show otherwise. Spinal cord injuries do not always immediately manifest symptoms, but if these symptoms are ignored the severity of the injury could increase as can possible complications and the time it takes to recover. A person with a spinal cord injury may feel numbness in the affected area or paralysis immediately following the crash, or these sensations may come on gradually.

Types of spinal cord injuries

Some spinal cord injuries are complete, which means that all feeling and all motor function below the area of the injury are lost. Paralysis from a spinal cord injury can either be classified as tetraplegia or paraplegia. Tetraplegia is paralysis of your arms, hands, torso, legs and pelvic organs. Paraplegia is paralysis of your torso, legs and pelvic organs. Other spinal cord injuries are incomplete. This means that there is still some motor function and feeling below the area of the injury. There different degrees of incomplete spinal cord injuries.

Take spinal cord injuries seriously

If you have back pain following a car crash in Baton Rouge, it is essential to seek medical care to determine if you have a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries can be incredibly expensive, not just in health care costs, but also in costs associated with daily care, lost wages from being unable to work and pain and suffering. For this reason, many people who suffer spinal cord injuries in an auto accident choose to pursue compensation from the party responsible for the collision.