What Are the Dangers of Undiagnosed Spinal Stenosis?
Undiagnosed spinal stenosis can cause long-lasting health issues, including paralysis, a loss of bladder control, and nerve damage. If you display symptoms of a spinal cord injury (SCI), seek medical attention immediately. In a situation where your medical issues are the result of someone else’s negligence, pursue legal help from a personal injury lawyer.
In these serious claims, your best course of action is to work with a spinal cord injury and paralysis lawyer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Your legal representative should prioritize your health, well-being, and future. If your attorney determines that you have a case for compensation, they will encourage you to pursue a claim against the liable party or parties.
What is spinal stenosis?
According to Mayo Clinic, spinal stenosis occurs when the space inside of the backbone is too small. This can put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. In some instances, people with spinal stenosis experience no symptoms. Others are prone to symptoms that impact the lower back and neck, including:
- Numbness
- Pain
- Trouble walking
- Bowel or bladder control issues
If you notice these or other symptoms of spinal stenosis, consult with a doctor. This allows you to receive a medical assessment, care, and treatment for your spinal cord injury in its early stages.
There are times when an SCI is related to a car accident or another incident caused by another party. If your spinal stenosis is the result of another party’s negligence, you may have options. You should connect with personal injury attorneys in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to get advice on how to pursue your claim.
What happens if you don’t treat spinal stenosis?
Per the Cleveland Clinic, at-home remedies for spinal stenosis include applying heat or cold to the spine or exercising. These offer no guarantees. If you are dealing with a spine injury, physical therapy and other long-term treatments may be warranted. Without them, your injury could worsen to the point where it affects you in one or more of the following ways:
Activity restrictions
Spinal stenosis can impact your ability to walk, sit, stand, and remain balanced. This condition can disrupt your lifestyle by making it painful and difficult to engage in the activities that you like to do with family and friends. It could force you into a sedentary lifestyle, which comes with many negative health consequences.
Disability
Spinal stenosis can leave you with a disability that affects you for the rest of your life. The condition can be severe enough to prevent you from standing up and walking. As such, it can limit your mobility and keep you from enjoying life the way you want.
Limited or loss of bowel or bladder control
Unfortunately, spinal stenosis can weaken your bowels or bladder. If warranted, a doctor may recommend surgery to address your spinal stenosis-related bowel or bladder control issues.
Continuous pain and discomfort
You may notice minor pain and discomfort in your back, legs, and neck. If left unaddressed, the pain and discomfort can become too much to handle. These issues may be related to spinal stenosis — to find out, meet with a doctor who can perform appropriate medical testing.
If you think you have a spinal cord injury that will disappear on its own, think again. SCI symptoms can escalate quickly – and they can affect you permanently.
For those dealing with a spinal cord injury due to no fault of your own, review your legal options carefully and consider partnering with catastrophic injury lawyers in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who are familiar with the dangers of spinal stenosis. Your lawyer can evaluate your case and help you decide what to do from here.
How can you get compensation for spinal stenosis?
Alabama Code § 6-2-38 states that you have two years to file a personal injury claim. Your attorney can help you ask for compensation from a liable party or their insurance carrier. Depending on how the case plays out, you could receive compensation for your spinal injury without having to go to trial. To understand how, consider this example:
A driver slams their car into yours. You call 911 after the collision and are brought to a hospital. Medical personnel diagnose you with spinal stenosis.
In the days after your accident, you notify your auto insurance company about your crash. There are insurance requirements for all drivers in Alabama, and every motorist in the state must have at-fault coverage. Following your collision, your car insurance provider can connect with the other driver’s insurer. Together, the companies can investigate your crash and find out who is at fault.
Ideally, the insurance companies find the other driver is at fault, and this motorist’s insurer covers the costs of treating your spinal stenosis and other accident-related losses you incur. However, more often than not, a liable party’s insurer will dispute your claim or offer a lowball settlement. This can make it tough to get the compensation you need to recover financially from your collision.
In this scenario and similar ones, it helps to have an experienced car accident attorney on your side. Your lawyer can negotiate a settlement with a liable party’s insurance company on your behalf. Throughout these negotiations, they keep you updated. If an insurer offers a settlement, they will let you know, and you can discuss the proposal with them.
Ultimately, it is in your best interests to approve a settlement offer if it provides you with adequate compensation. Otherwise, there is no reason to accept a settlement that falls short of what you are entitled to recover. An inadequate settlement may leave you struggling to cover some or most of your spinal stenosis treatment costs and other injury-related costs by yourself.
Your lawyer understands the challenges you will face as you try to get compensation for your SCI. They can submit a personal injury lawsuit and build a compelling argument to present to a judge or jury. They may use medical records, accident scene photos and videos, and other proof to support your case. If your lawyer presents your case in court, it may be nearly impossible for the defendant to disprove your argument against them. Thus, you could receive fair compensation for your losses.
If you are weighing an SCI claim, speak to a lawyer. You can share your legal concerns and questions with your attorney and find out how much your case could be worth. If you want to move forward with a claim, your lawyer can begin this process and offer legal guidance at each stage.
Get help with your spinal cord injury case
At Prince Glover Hayes, we counsel, we advocate, and we litigate. As trusted advocates for personal injury claims, we provide dedicated representation to injured individuals and their families in Alabama.
Our legal team has recovered over $1.1 billion in compensation for clients in spinal cord injury cases and many others. Let us teach you about the dangers of undiagnosed spinal stenosis and how you could recover compensation from anyone who contributed to your spine injury.
Tell us about your SCI case. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with our team.