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Rehabilitation

After hospital discharge, procedures will vary according to the specific injury and its results. There'll be a team that includes any of the following, or others, depending on the nature of the injury:

• Neurologist
• Orthopedist
• Internist
• Physical therapist
• Occupational therapist
• Rehabilitation nurse
• Social worker
• Dietitian
• Speech therapist
• Psychologist or psychiatrist
• Respiratory therapist
• Vocational counselor

There will be both short-term and long-term medications, for pain, any infections that arise, bladder and bowel control, muscle movement, and sexual function. There will usually be education for the family, so they can best support their loved one and understand what is needed. For example, the injured person may need a ventilator and there are programs for family education about that, as well as weaning programs when the injured person could potentially learn to breathe without it.

Medical Devices

Enormous progress has been made in the past fifty years or so in helping people become more active and functional after severe injuries.

• Neural prostheses - these are designed to replace lost neural transmission. They may be outside the body, or implanted, and they connect electrically with the nervous system. They can enable a person to stand, walk, reach for things, and hold things. A good example is cochlear implants, which have become widely used to restore lost hearing.
• Versatile wheelchairs - improvements have made wheelchairs lighter and more comfortable. Some can negotiate rough ground or climb stairs, and in some the seat can lift to give a person access to high places, as in a supermarket.

Surgery

Great progress has been made in surgeries to enable movement after the nerve damage has made it impossible. Tendon surgery repositions tendons connected to working muscles so those muscles can take over what the paralyzed muscles cannot do. This can restore hand movement, arm movement, and wrist movement, for example. The working muscles do double duty.

There are many spinal cord injury centers which offer counseling, therapy, re-training, and family training. This spinal cord injury site gives a list of such facilities in each state. The New York Presbyterian Hospital site gives good information as to anatomy, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and rehabilitation.

If you have sustained a spinal cord injury, or if you have a loved one in that position, please call us or send an email to learn more about your legal options. Depending on how the injury happened, you may have a valid legal claim for compensation.