When you are involved in a serious accident, you may suffer from any number of injuries. While some may be apparent, like lacerations or burns, others are less obvious, like head injuries or chronic pain.
Spinal cord injuries are a common cause of so-called invisible injuries, which is why people may not realize how badly someone is injured just by looking at them. If you have a spinal cord injury, others might not notice that you’re in pain or dealing with a physical disability.
How can spinal cord injuries cause invisible problems?
Spinal cord injuries can cause a number of devastating consequences. While people usually think of paralysis or weakness with these injuries, they may not think about the other possible problems, like organ dysfunction or pain.
The location of your injury will have a significant impact on how it affects you. With an incomplete injury, you will potentially still have function below the point of injury, but the functionality of your body may be different. You may have chronic pain from misfiring nerves or weakness that affects how much you can walk each day. You could have trouble lifting your arms above a certain point or issues with your bladder or bowel function.
The greatest issue with how others perceive spinal cord injuries is that they may associate your appearance with your level of pain or disability. This happens even though the reality may be different for you than they believe. Your pain may be so severe that you’re on pain patches, but on the outside, you may look like anyone else. Without knowing you, others may not be aware that you’re injured at all.
Even if you can’t see it, the injury is still there
An invisible injury may not be apparent to everyone, but it’s still there. Your life is still affected by what you’ve gone through, even if you have normal functions most of the time. It is important that you pursue a claim against those who have harmed you so that you can get the financial support you need for treatments that may help you manage or recover from your injury.