Overview:

A catastrophic injury or illness usually occurs suddenly and without warning. Injuries may be considered catastrophic when they disrupt a person's life and livelihood, or ability to earn a living. Management of catastrophic injuries is complex and may require the expertise of a team of health care professionals as the injured person moves from hospital to rehabilitation, and return to home and community.

The financial fallout from a catastrophic injury makes essential the careful valuation of the claim by an experienced personal injury attorney working with economic and vocational specialists, life care planning specialists, and specialists in rehabilitation medicine.

The goal of an attorney handling these matters is simple: to secure for the client the Best Possible Future.

Paralysis

One type of catastrophic injury is paralysis.

Definition: "Complete loss of strength to an affected limb or muscle group."

Normal muscle function requires unbroken nerve connection from the brain to a particular muscle. Damage at any point along this path reduces the brain's ability to move a muscle and may cause muscle weakness. Complete loss of the nerve prevents movement and is called paralysis.

Weakness may sometimes lead to paralysis. Other times, strength may be restored to a paralyzed limb.

While paralysis may affect an individual muscle, it usually affects an entire body region. Some types of paralysis are:

Quadriplegia: where the arms, legs and chest are paralyzed;

Paraplegia: where both legs, and sometimes part of the chest, are paralyzed;

Hemiplegia: where one side of the body is paralyzed.

Paralysis may be caused by damage to the brain or spinal cord.

Damage to the brain may come from a stroke, tumor, certain diseases and a fall or blow to the head. - Damage to the spinal cord is most often caused by trauma, such as a fall or car accident. There may be other causes, such as a herniated disc or various diseases or conditions. The type of paralysis may give important clues to its origin. Paraplegia, or paralysis of the legs, occurs after damage to the lower spinal cord, and quadriplegia occurs after injury to the upper spinal cord, at the shoulders or higher. Spinal cord damage too high on the neck will affect the nerves serving the lungs and heart paralyzing the muscles that circulate blood and cause breathing, resulting in death.

Not all paralysis is treatable. But for non-permanent paralysis, the only way to treat paralysis is to repair its underlying cause. Rehabilitation may include: physical therapy to rebuild the muscles; occupational therapy to help restore the ability to perform daily activities, such as bathing, getting dressed; respiratory therapy to help breathing; vocational rehabilitation to retrain for a job; social worker to help adjust to one's condition; speech-language pathologist; nutritionist and others.

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