When you find yourself dealing with an injury, it may wind up rerouting your immediate plans. However, if there is damage beyond a temporary setback, your entire future may face uncertainty. A catastrophic injury falls into this latter category.
If you have to deal with catastrophic damage to your body, it means you will not make a full recovery. Learn more about these injuries, so you have an idea of what your future holds should you face one.
Head injuries
Any blow to your head may result in long-term damage. The brain, while well protected inside the skull, is not immune to injury. Even a jolting of the organ inside the head may cause irreversible damage to physical and cognitive function. Since the brain controls every body system, even minor damage may mean a complete change of life.
Open fractures
Some broken bones may take more time to heal than others. Open fractures require immediate intervention, surgery and physical therapy. Even so, you may not regain the same level of physical ability you once had. In extreme cases, bacteria entering the body at the time of the fracture may cause long-term infection and hinder bone growth. This may leave you with a permanent fissure in the bone, and in extreme cases, you may face amputation.
Spine damage
Your spinal cord transmits neural signals between the body and the brain. When any portion of this path sustains damage, the result may leave you paralyzed. For instance, if the cord fibers in the lumbar part of the spine receive damage, your legs may no longer receive impulses to walk. An injury at the neck may leave you immobile from that point down.
A catastrophic injury charts a very different path for your future.