The backbone is the number one support for your body. The bones stacked on top of each other are called vertebrae and the spinal cord runs through them. The bones help protect the spinal cord. The vertebral column is made up of 33 bones called vertebrae. Seven vertebrae are in the neck region called Cervical Vertebrae denoted as C1,
C2,C7, twelve in the thorax also called thoracic vertebrae and denoted as T1- T12 or
D1-D12 and five in the lumbar region, L1- L5. There are five vertebrae in the sacral region
(S1-S5) and remaining four are fused together as a vestigial organ, to remind us that our ancestors had tails. The spinal cord is a part of your nervous system. It is like a telephone wire that goes from your brain to the middle of your back, to your hips.
It divides into many nerves as it moves down, like wires of a telephone cable and carries messages from the brain to the various parts of the body and back
With a spinal cord injury (SCI) your spinal cord can be hurt any place from neck to the hips. Just like a telephone wire will stop relaying messages beyond the point it is damaged, in the same way messages from the brain stop passing beyond the injured part.
The area below the injured part of the spinal cord becomes paralyzed with probable loss of sensation and movements. Depending upon the level of injury you could be either a paraplegic or a
tetraplegic.
If you cannot move your legs but came move your arms like before, your spinal cord is hurt in your back (T1 and below) and you would be termed in medical language as a paraplegic.
If you cannot move your legs and arms both then your spinal cord is injured in your neck area (C1 to C8) and you would be termed as a
tetraplegic. The closer the injury of the spinal cord to the brain fewer parts and systems of the body work normally.
The dark area shows the Parts affected by a trunk injury. The person has paraplegia
The dark area shows the Parts affected by a neck injury. This person has tetraplegia
This would depend entirely on how hurt or damaged the nerves of your spinal cord are The prognosis differs from patient to patient. Depending upon the extent of injury, some people are able to walk normally, some use calipers to get about and some also would have to use a wheelchair. The progress is extremely stow, therefore, you need to be patient and have a lot of hope. Ask your doctor to give you a clearer picture in your case.
The doctors would be able to give you the prognosis only after 6 weeks. !t is difficult to be sure of anything before that as your spine is in a spinal shock. Only after the spinal shock wears out can a more appropriate judgment be made.
This movement is called spasms. This is an unexplainable symptom normally seen in the case of incomplete spinal cord injury. This is an involuntary movement so let it not confuse you. It need not mean that you would soon be walking, though it is a good sign.
More or less all the systems below the level of injury are affected may it be the digestive, circulatory or respiratory systems etc. But again the extent of damage depends on the level of injury and the severity of the injury. In the initial phase loss of control over bladder, bowel and pressure ulcers are the main cause of worry, anger and depressions. Later they may also come to realise about loss of sensation, erection and thus inability to perform sex. It too becomes a major worry in addition to bladder and bowel management. At the hospital you would be
re-trained in how to perform these vital functions, may it be bladder, bowel, sexuality or keeping free from pressure sores Ask you doctor for more information.
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