09/11/2024
Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month
Spinal Cord Injuries:
The spinal cord is like a highway that carries messages between the brain and the body. When someone has a spinal cord injury (SCI), it interrupts these messages, affecting movement, sensation, or both below the injury site.
THE LEVELS:
- CERVICAL: Affects the head, neck, and shoulders.
- THORACIC: Impacts the upper chest, mid-back, and abdominal muscles.
- LUMBAR: Affects the hips and legs.
- SACRAL: Influences the hips, thighs, buttocks, and pelvic organs.
How much an SCI affects a person depends on where the injury is and how severe it is. For example, I have a C4/5 injury, which means everything below that point is affected.
PARAPLEGIA vs. TETRAPLEGIA:
- Paraplegia: Loss of movement and/or feeling in both legs, and sometimes part of the lower abdomen.
- Tetraplegia(QUADRIPLEGIA): Affects all four limbs, and sometimes parts of the chest, abdomen, and back. Both are types of paralysis caused by damage to the spinal cord.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Common causes of SCI include car accidents, falls, gunshots, sports injuries, and complications from surgery.
- Over 15.4 million people worldwide live with a spinal cord injury.
- Unlike other parts of the body, the spinal cord can’t heal itself, so damage is usually permanent.
- The amount of recovery after SCI varies widely from person to person.
