When you struggle to adjust back to daily life in the weeks following a car crash, you may not realize how dangerous and harmful a spinal cord injury can be.
In some cases, you may not even recognize signs of this injury right away. Being aware of how symptoms show up and what the most common ones are can help you determine what to do next.
Bladder and bowel issues
According to the Mayo Clinic, you may find it harder to completely empty your bladder while urinating in the time following an accident. This discomfort and numbness from the lack of messages sent from your spinal cord to your brain can lead to you not using the bathroom when you should.
If this gets worse, you may even struggle with urinary tract infections. Your bowels can also feel different and you may have less control over your bowel functions than before.
Skin sensation struggles
Being aware of the temperature of any surface may not seem important at first, but once you lose the ability to tell how hot or cold a surface is, you could struggle. Freezer burns or other kinds of burns can permanently damage you and leave you with sores that you may not see right away.
You may even experience infections if you do not notice a cut on your skin.
Breathing problems
If you are struggling to breathe like you did before the accident, your spinal cord injury could be at fault. Excessive coughing or strange liquid in your lungs can come from an injury like this.
Being aware of how dangerous spinal cord injuries can be may help you make a decision about what to do next.