Spinal Cord Injuries And The Pain They Can Cause

On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Spinal Cord Injuries on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.

If you’ve been in a car accident or suffered a work injury that caused a spinal cord injury, you may be hospitalized and treated in many ways. One of the things you may not have expected was the pain that a spinal cord injury can cause. Spinal cord injuries are often discussed in a way that suggests that all injuries cause paralysis. That’s not true, though.

In fact, spinal cord injuries don’t always result in paralysis or even weakness in the muscles or body. Sometimes, damaging the nerves can actually lead to higher sensitivity in the body. That can result in high levels of pain that turns chronic when it’s not treated appropriately.

The spinal cord is a large bundle of nerves, and direct trauma to those nerves can result in pain that shoots down a leg, up the back, and so on. While many of the injuries to spinal cords are actually bruises or contusions, the damage done can lead to pain for quite a while. Managing it is vital to healing without living in agony.

With most kinds of pain, treatment comes in a few steps. Managing the swelling is one. Reducing swelling and inflammation can take pressure off the nerves. Normal pain medications, like over the counter NSAIDs can help, but stronger medications are also sometimes prescribed.

Another way to help spinal cord injuries is through surgery, if necessary, or with the use of rehabilitation services. If a nerve is pinched, other options might be massage or going to a chiropractor to help reduce muscular strain and to realign the back.

Source: WebMD, “Spinal Cord Injury and Pain,” accessed March 02, 2016