Disabilities from Accidents

A car is one of man’s favorite toys. The engine revolution, intricate design and details as well as the interior features can be nostalgic to a car lover. The best part is when driving at exceedingly hundred miles an hour creating an adrenalin rush wanting for more until a loud screech is heard.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for every 14 seconds, a person is injured by car accidents in the United States. Imagine the damage it can create to your body, the blood loss, the bones broken and worst, the lives taken away. Think of the hospital costs and emotional challenges that come along rehabilitation. Research shows that majority of traffic-related injuries resulted to paraplegia and quadriplegia, two disabilities which affect the motor skills of people.
In cases resulting from paraplegia, the victim sustained injury from trauma hitting a hard object or resulting from the crushing force of collision. This can lead to injury in the certain part of the spinal cord affecting the muscles and the peripheral nervous system. Paraplegia affects the lower extremities preventing injured people from walking which during serious cases may also involve difficulty in urinating and defecating. In addition, this can affect their daily activities and makes them vulnerable to certain complications such as deep vein thrombosis, pressure sores or pneumonia.

Other cases may result to inability to move both the upper extremities and lower extremities also called as quadriplegia. Patients also lose their sensation on their limbs. The affected area and the severity of the injury will determine if a patient will lose the total function of his four limbs or suffer partial loss of sensation and muscle control to these parts. Slip, fall, sports-related injuries can cause quadriplegia however a recent study showed that a huge percent of quadriplegia patients are caused by car accidents. Most patients with quadriplegia are vulnerable to osteoporosis, bone fractures, pressure sores, thrombosis, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory ailments. Patients also suffer from loss of muscle control and sensation in all four limbs. In addition, it is common for quadriplegic people to feel numbness and piercing pain and experience difficulty in breathing. In severe cases, patients may lose their digestive and sexual functions and ability to control their urinary and bowel movement.