Spinal Cord Injury Equipment
Few injuries are quite as devastating or as permanent as a spinal cord injury. Most of those who suffer a serious spinal injury face life-long and life-altering consequences that often require long-term care and rehabilitation. Every year in the U.S. between 12,000 and 15,000 individuals suffer spinal cord injuries. More than a third of them are relatively young and healthy males aged between 15 and 37. A substantial number of the injuries stem from seat back failure accidents and seat belt failure accidents in vehicular crashes. Other causes of traumatic spinal trauma include construction accidents, falls, sports injuries, violence and disease.
About 10,000 of the individuals who suffer spinal injuries each year end up becoming either partially or completely paralyzed for life. The life style changes forced upon such individuals by paralysis can be extremely traumatic. Apart from a loss of mobility, spinal trauma can also rob individuals of their ability to perform basic tasks such as moving about, eating, bathing and dressing themselves. Until relatively recently, individuals who suffered debilitating spinal injuries had fairly few options available to them as far as spinal cord rehabilitation was concerned. However, over the past few years, advances in rehabilitative medicine and in technology have resulted in a slew of new assistive and adaptive technologies that are designed to help people with spinal injuries regain a lot of their lost functionality and independence. The devices run the gamut and include tools for mobility, those that assist with dressing and eating, equipment for the bathroom and a plethora of other products to assist with daily living needs.
For most spinal injury victims, a wheelchair is a fundamental necessity for mobility. Most modern wheelchairs feature ultra-lightweight materials and ergonomic designs that are designed to help individuals with paraplegia, hemiplegia and quadriplegia to move around with relative ease. Wheelchairs can either be manual, or fully powered. Patients with paraplegia typically have complete upper-body functionality and are therefore more likely to need manual wheelchairs while those with quadriplegia typically require powered wheelchairs. Several wheelchair manufactures these days also offer hybrid models that allow patients to switch between manual and power mode as needed. Others offer custom-made wheelchairs that allow patients to participate in activities of their choice, such as participating in sports for example.
Braces and orthoses are another class of adaptive products available to spinal cord injury victims. These devices are designed to help individuals replicate the normal actions of their arms, hand, legs and feet as much as possible. An orthosis for the wrist or hand for instance, can help spinal injury victims to better clasp objects such as toothbrushes, forks and spoons with their hands. Such braces can assist in helping victims reach out for objects or to pull on their clothes. Ankle and foot braces meanwhile are available to help victims more effectively replicate normal striding action. Other orthoses are available for bracing the knees and elbows. Sigmedics Inc. a vendor of rehabilitation technologies even has a sophisticated walker called the Parastep that uses a set of surface electrodes to send electrical impulses to various spots on the victim's lower body in order to stimulate a walking gait.
In addition to such devices, a whole lot of other products are available to assist spinal injury patients with their daily functions. One set of products in this category is assistive devices for the bathroom. These products are designed largely for paraplegics and those with some control over their lower bodies and include tub transfer benches, shower chairs, non-slip mats, special commodes, grab bars and rolling shower chairs. Numerous products, such as specialized utensils, cups and plates are also available to assist with eating functions. Those with a high degree of immobility also can take advantage of voice and mouth-operated devices that allow them to control wheelchairs, lights, television sets, phones and computers using their voice or through puffs of air. Larger assistive equipment, such as motorized ramps and standing frames are also available to help spinal injury victims get in and out of their homes and offices.
While such adaptive products can help spinal cord injury victims enormously, often the cost associated with purchasing and using some of these products can be rather steep. Getting health insurance companies to pay for such rehabilitative aids can involve confusing and complicated procedures especially for those already having to deal with the enormous mental anguish associated with a spinal injury. Often, a spinal cord injury lawyer with expertise in dealing with traumatic injuries can help new victims navigate through the maze of paperwork and red tape needed to ensure that they are getting what they are entitled to under the circumstances. A spinal cord lawyer can also help victims secure compensation for their injury that they may not have otherwise even known that they were entitled to receive.
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