Westchester County

Published on: March 5, 2012

Experts agreed with the colonel’s assessment – this was an alarming statistic.

by Stephen Bilkis

The Army ran with only a rough estimate of how much their foot soldiers carried in combat, doctors and hospitals concerned with this problem have learned. It wasn’t until 2003 that a colonel and military-equipment expert formed a seven-man team to study the effects of the weight soldiers carried while in the combat zones of eastern Afghanistan.

“What we were proposing was highly irregular, and my chain of command had to pass this all the way to the generals to get approved,” he told a group of interested citizens.

The colonel, now retired, had his team join a group of soldiers, so they would carry the same loads and face the same dangers from day to day. They went to Afghanistan, where they went on missions with the soldiers. This would usually start with a helicopter ride, followed by foot patrols that would extend for days at a time. The members of the research team would use a digital scale to weigh all the equipment, down to their ID cards and eating utensils.

Published on: February 28, 2012

The condition of the spine is a vital part of overall health

by Stephen Bilkis

A United States Army soldier could carry as much as 127 pounds in the field and more than 60 pounds even while in combat, doctors learned. An Army colonel studied the effects of carrying so much weight, with the intent of reducing spinal injuries to soldiers that could otherwise be avoided.

“If an aggressive … weight-loss program is not undertaken by the Army,” the colonel told a source, “the soldier’s combat load will continue to increase and his physical performance will continue to be even more severely degraded.”

The Army responded by attempting to develop lighter gear. This proved especially difficult, since they were also looking for ways to reduce casualties by making body armor stronger and other measures that would likely increase the weight of a soldier’s gear. Lumbar spinal injuries are very common.

Published on: December 17, 2011

Military Strives to Provide Recovery to Spinal Injuries

by Stephen Bilkis

The military has been working hard to find new ways to treat musculoskeletal injuries, studies have learned. Teams of physical therapists and other specialists have been created by the Army to keep a closer eye on infantry brigades, and have implemented better screening techniques to find serious spinal injuries. Still, some soldiers say their injuries are often discounted by physician assistants, who are often the ones who see the soldiers first. These assistants determine who will get more extensive workups by doctors in military hospitals.

A sergeant in the Army with the 5th Stryker Brigade complained of a sore back during training. A physician assistant at the Madigan Army Medical Center was convinced the soreness was simply due to muscle pain.

The sergeant told an interested party that he had to pay out of his own pocket for an MRI, which showed he had a herniated disc. He went to Afghanistan in 2009 anyway, deciding to wait until returning to Washington state to be treated in summer 2010.

Published on: December 8, 2011

Sciatic Pain Affects Many

by Stephen Bilkis

Many people know the agony of sudden sharp pains in the leg that seem to have no cause. Experts have heard about it from many clients. The pain is sometimes so awful that the client can barely stand or walk. Many of them have no idea what is happening to them, or that it is related to the spinal cord. It is called sciatica, and it involves the nerves. This condition is sometimes caused by slip and fall accidents.

According to doctors in New York City and Westchester County, sciatica is not so much a medical diagnosis, but a symptom of other problems in the lower back. Sciatica is what is known as a “radiculopathy” to doctors. It means a disc in the lower back has slipped from its position to put pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the lower back.

People between 30 and 50 years of age are most likely to suffer from sciatica. Sometimes, it is not caused by a specific injury, as it can just develop through time as general wear and tear on the lower spine. That does not mean, however, that it cannot be caused by injury.

Published on: November 27, 2011

Blow Out Injures Octogenarian

by Stephen Bilkis

Studies have learned of an 84-year-old man who lived the life of a man decades younger. He didn’t take any medications, played golf, traveled, walked four miles most days, and worked out three times a week.

Part of that fitness routine was work on an inflated exercise ball, until the day after Thanksgiving 2009. He was sitting on the ball, pulling cables attached to weights, when the ball popped without warning. The fall to the hard floor broke his back causing spinal injury.

It was weeks before he learned the ball had been recalled in May of 2009. After surgeries and resulting digestive complications, he walks slowly and can’t sit or stand for extended periods, according to observers in Staten island and Westchester County . He also has to take blood pressure medication. His exercise is physical therapy to keep the pain in his back at bay.

Published on: October 27, 2011

12 Year Old Boy Flown To Hospital With Suspected Spinal Injury

by Stephen Bilkis

A 12-year-old New Zealand boy was recently airlifted to the Whangarei Hospital, after suffering an accident, which could lead to a possible spinal injury. His mother took the 12-year-old to the Kerkeri Medical Centre when he began complaining of a sore neck, reported a New York Spinal Injury Lawyer. While he was at the Kerkeri Medical Centre, he began having other symptoms, including slurred speech and the loss of sensation in one side of his body. These symptoms began occurring after the boy hit his head on the bottom of a shallow pool while swimming sometime prior. This could easily be considered a slip and fall injury.

The doctors attending the 12-year-old immediately immobilized his neck with a neck brace, after identifying the possibility of a serious injury, and took him to the Kerkeri Domain to await transportation to a larger hospital.

At around 4:15 PM, a Northland Electricity helicopter picked him up and flew him to the Whangeri Hospital. He was transferred via helicopter because doctors feared had a possible spinal or head injury. If they had tried to transport him via an ambulance, the trip could have worsened his injuries, stated a NY Spinal Injury Lawyer. The helicopter was in the Bay of Islands at the time of the emergency call, and workers and firefighters at the Kerkeri Medical Centre didn’t have enough time to mark out a landing area for the helicopter before it arrived.

Published on: October 14, 2011

Drunk driver kills one and paralyzes another

by Stephen Bilkis

There is no doubt in the world that drinking and driving is not a good combination. In this accident case, a man driving while under the influence of alcohol, was involved in a deadly crash that killed his passenger and severely injured a woman on her way home from work. The injured woman was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the accident, indicated the NY Spinal Injury Lawyer.

The driver was charged with not only driving under the influence, but aggravated assault by a vehicle and homicide by vehicle. He had been drinking at a tavern just before the crash. Despite being drunk, he thought he could drive. The man ran a red light doing 95 mph and accelerating, when he slammed into another pickup. His passenger wasn’t killed instantly, but instead, died a month later from his injuries.

The other driver involved in this horrific wreck was a 911 dispatcher on her way home from work. Her dispatch center got the call about her accident and subsequent injuries, which included severe spinal cord injury, broken legs, broken ankles and a broken back. Blood alcohol tests run on the driver showed he was 0.15%, reported the New York Spinal Injury Lawyer. The legal limit in his state was 0.08, the same as Staten Island and Westchester County.

Published on: September 17, 2011

Spinal injury is not a static thing when it comes to prognosis

by Stephen Bilkis

Spinal injury is not a static thing when it comes to prognosis, New York Spinal Injury Lawyers have learned. The outcome can vary widely when there has been neurological damage. Bones heal completely in 8 to 16 weeks. The more the bones have changed shape, the more likely it is that there will be chronic pain, or that pain will come in the later stages of recovery. Subsequent surgical treatments may help with neurological difficulties caused by injuries that harmed, but did not break, the spinal cord. In cases where the spinal cord has been severed, below-the-waist paraplegia is very likely, and the disability will be permanent.

Naturally, a spine fracture with attendant spinal cord injury will have a great affect on an individual’s life. Rehabilitation must take all this into account, New York Spinal Injury Lawyers insist. It should address functional status in all aspects of the patient’s life, including home, work, and community.

The specifics of rehabilitation will depend upon the type of fracture, the extent to which the spinal cord was involved, and repair of the fracture itself. The stability of the fracture should also be known before any rehabilitation can begin. Rehab facilities in Westchester and Staten island have been made aware of these situations.

Published on: August 18, 2011

28-year-old man who suffered spinal cord injury in a single propeller engine airplane crash

by Stephen Bilkis

New York Spinal Injury Lawyers have learned of the case of a 28-year-old man who suffered spinal cord injury in a single propeller engine airplane crash on May 13th, 2008. He sustained extensive spinal cord injuries and initially treated at the Hospital Mexico in Costa Rica on the same day as the crash. Paraplegia was certainly a possibility in this case.

The spine was stabilized using metal rods and bone fragments were removed from the spinal canal. The patient remained at the Hospital Mexico for a week before being moved to the National Rehabilitation Center in Costa Rica for four weeks. The patient had to wear a harness to support his back. He also had to remain lying down and his physical therapy was focused on stretching exercises. Drugs were administered for the pain, which was both acute and constant. Doctors in Staten Island and Westchester County have taken note of these treatments.

He was giving cell treatment in three cycles between October 31 and November 20, 2008, January 21-30, 2009, and July 1-10, 2009, New York City Spinal Injury Lawyersdiscovered, using stem cells from placenta and umbilical cord blood. There were no adverse affects shown from injections directly into the spinal cord. Doctors did note, however, an increase in strength during the observation period, with the final observation in January of 2010.

Published on: July 18, 2011

Motorcycle helmets do reduce brain injuries

by Stephen Bilkis

The latest studies into whether or not helmets make any difference in a motorcycle crash have shown that indeed, they “do” make a difference. They reduce brain injuries and deaths from brain injuries. Interestingly, they also cut down on the incidents of spinal cord injuries, said the New York Spinal Injury Lawyer.

This latest information is of interest, because there is an old myth that says wearing a helmet can hurt the spine during a bike crash. With proof it helps reduce spinal cord injuries, legislators across the country might want to revisit some of their helmet laws. For those states that already have mandatory helmet laws, this validates having their legislation in place.

For those states that either don’t have a helmet law or leave it up to the biker to choose, this new information – that they save lives, reduce head injuries and reduce the risks of cervical spine injury – should help proponents re-consider their lack of a helmet law. Hospitals in New York City and Westchester County say that helmets can save lives and horrible injury.