Spinal injuries are serious business, and no one appreciates that more than the dedicated plaintiff-only personal injury lawyers here at Cuming & Gillespie LLP. We help spinal injury victims and their families every day, and have even partnered with Calgary’s Foothills Hospital to help found the Brain Injury Patient Experience Program, which helps rehabilitate patients not only with traumatic brain injuries but with spinal injuries as well.

These injuries can have far-reaching consequences that can make it difficult for accident victims to return to their normal lives and contribute to their Calgary communities as they did before. The Patient Experience Program helps victims find new ways to remain productive and active while also learning more about their outlook, their outcomes, and the physical, emotional, and psychological traumas they suffer from. Many spinal injuries and the symptoms they cause can be permanent, and understanding the human impact this has is just as important as advancing medical science in an effort to better treat such traumas.

It’s also important for spinal injury victims themselves to do what they can to assist in their own recovery, which is why we put together this quick list of first steps following an accident that causes spinal trauma.

1. Listen to Your Calgary Medical Professionals

Getting immediate medical attention, and sticking with your doctors’ care plan, is the most important thing you can do following any accident, especially an accident that causes spinal trauma. Don’t let worries about your other obligations take precedence over your healing; limiting your movements and activities in the days, weeks, and possibly months following a spinal injury can help you recover more completely in many cases.

There’s time to transition back to a full and productive life. At the outset, rest and heal.

2. Surround Yourself with Family and Friends

Many people in Calgary feel an urge to withdraw from the world after they’ve suffered a serious injury, especially a severe spinal injury that can lead to paralysis, loss of function, and an inability to care for oneself on a day-to-day basis. Feelings of shame, embarrassment, guilt, and anger at oneself are very common and can be a natural part of the healing process. If you give into these negative feelings rather than working through them with medical professionals and your loved ones, though, they can greatly inhibit your recovery.

Know that these circumstances are not your fault, and that the people who love you are there to provide any kind of support you need.

3. Call an Experienced Calgary Personal Injury Lawyer

If your spinal injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, calling a lawyer as soon as you’re able is in your best interest. A personal injury lawyer with experience handling spinal injuries will be able to move your case forward as effectively as possible, and will help you get the compensation you’re entitled to for medical costs, lost wages, and your pain and suffering. We help spinal injury victims and their families every day, and are standing by to help you, too—just call or contact us today.