Most of our Los Angeles readers have probably suffered an injury at some point in life. Perhaps they broke a bone as a child, or maybe they were injured in a car accident. The good news is that the human body is resilient, and in most cases a person who suffers an injury will heal with time. However, one injury that can completely upend a person’s life is a spine injury.
Although science and medicine have seen miraculous leaps in knowledge and applications, healing and treating a person with a spine injury is still one of the most difficult things to do. A spine injury can leave a person completely impaired: unable to work, attend school or sometimes even just take care of the most simple of household tasks. So, what is the best way to approach treatment and rehabilitation for a person who is suffering from a spine injury?
Every spine injury is different, but in most cases the best approach is the team approach. This means that there is someone assisting the injured person in each different area post-injury. For instance, a physical therapist would be able to help the person attempt to regain some use of body parts that have been negatively affected by the injury. A psychologist could help the person deal with some of the emotions that would certainly come with such a huge change in their bodily abilities. A social worker could help the person find the right accommodations to live in, or perhaps even help find a job that could accommodate the person’s disability.
A spine injury is one of the most devastating injuries a person can suffer. Fortunately, in many of these cases, the person may be able to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits in order to help with the resulting medical expenses.
Source: emedicine.medscape.com, “Rehabilitation of Persons With Spinal Cord Injuries,” Accessed Feb. 17, 2015
