Facts about Spinal Cord Injury

After being involved in an accident, there is the possibility of you being seriously injured. When one’s spinal cord is damaged, a victim may suffer from what is known as a spinal cord injury.

This condition can cause long term or permanent disability, or paralysis or the loss of movement or feeling below the injured area.

Spinal Cord Injury in Los Angeles

In many busy cities like Los Angeles, various accidents might be hard to avoid, despite of following safety measures to prevent such horrible incidents. For this reason, spinal cord injuries are common these days.

Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injuries

Often, when the spinal cord gets injured, there may be one or more symptoms present. Some of these symptoms can include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Reflex activities or exaggerated spasms

• Change in fertility, sexual function, and sexual sensitivity

• Difficulty clearing out emissions from lungs, coughing, or even breathing

• Loss of movement

• Loss of bladder control or bowel

• An excessive stinging sensation or pain due to the injury of the nerve fibers of the spinal cord

• Loss of sensation or feeling (this includes the ability to feel touch, heat, and cold)

In general, spinal cord injury has certain symptoms that immediately appear after a head injury or any other type of accident. Some of these symptoms may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Destabilized breathing subsequent to the accident that caused the injury

• Misshapen or abnormally positioned back or neck

• Loss of bladder control or bowel

• Difficulty balancing and walking

• Weakness or paralysis (the loss of movement or feeling) in any one of the body parts

• Tingling, loss of sensation, or numbness in the feet, toes, hands, or fingers

• Loss of consciousness

• Back pain or severe pressure in the back, neck, or head

Factors to Consider in Spinal Cord Injury

These symptoms of spinal cord injuries depend on two factors, including:

1. Severity of Injury

Spinal cord injuries may be categorized into two: partial spinal cord injury and complete spinal cord injury. These are dependent on the severity of how spinal cord width has been injured. The following are the two categories of spinal cord injury:

• Partial Spinal Cord Injury – This is an injury whereas the spinal cord is still capable of sending various messages toward or from the brain. This may also be called as an incomplete injury. • Complete Spinal Cord injury – This is distinguished by complete or almost complete loss of feeling and movement below the area of injury.

2. Site of Injury

Paralysis, due to spinal cord injury, depends on the level of damage to the spine. The higher the injury is, the more likely that paralysis will occur. For instance, damage to the spinal cord at the point of the neck may possibly cause paralysis both in the legs and arms (quadriplegia) and make it hard to breathe without the aid of a respirator. On the other hand, an injury at a lower level of the spinal cord could affect only the legs and other lower parts of the body.