Health

What Is Considered A Spinal Injury?

Motion and balance in man are greatly controlled by the spinal cord. The spinal cord plays a great role in making us fit.

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You may have a slight backache or waist pain which can affect your motion and sitting position for some time, which may or may not be a sign of spinal injury.

This article uncovers what spinal injury is, its symptoms, the effects, and possible treatment.

Have a good read.

What Is Spinal Injury?

The spiral injury, also called spinal cord injury (SCI) is an impact on the spinal cord that results in a temporal or permanent change in sensation, motion, strength, and other body functions.

Spinal cord injury is sometimes fatal because the patient may never return to their initial state.

Scientists have not discovered a permanent repair of a broken spinal cord, and patients are taken through the recovery process to help them gain balance and a little comfort. The spinal cord injury affects emotionally, socially, mentally, and physically.

Types Of Spinal Cord Injury

The level of damage to the spinal cord can be grouped into two, namely;

1. Complete

Complete damage occurs when sensory and motor functions are lost. This entails that the patient loses the sense of feeling and movement.

This causes total paralysis, which is also called quadriplegia. When it involves the lower half of the body, it is termed paraplegia.

2. Incomplete

If the spinal injury is incomplete, some body organs on the side will work perfectly. The brain and body can communicate normally. The impact of an incomplete spinal injury is felt on one or both sides of the body, also termed partial paralysis.

Some possible causes of spinal cord injury are;

Surgical complications
Fatal motor accidents
Severe sport injuries
Falls with impact
Gunshot injuries
Diseases

Symptoms Of Spinal Cord Injury

Some signals show someone suffering a spinal injury before a total impact. Here are a few of them.

Inability to move or use arms and legs.
Decreased or total loss of sensation in the leg and arm
Inability to control bladder and bowel.

Breathing complications
Chronic back and neck pain
Alterations in sexual sensitivity and fertility
Difficulty in maintaining balance and posture.
Odd positioning of the neck

Effects Of Spinal Cord Injury

The impact of a spinal injury is destructive, especially when it is a complete type.

1. Muscle Structure

After an impact on the spinal cord, q patient may suffer tightness or looseness of the arm and leg muscles.

This hinders motion and can result in spasticity or flaccidity.

2. Respiratory Damage

A spinal injury makes breathing difficult, and the lungs get congested. A patient may find coughing hard when hitting the abdominal and chest muscles.

A thoracic or cervical spinal injury can cause pneumonia and other lung problems. This can be treated with medication.

3. Circulatory Impact

This entails that a patient may experience low blood pressure called orthostatic hypotension, to swelling of external body parts. The circulatory issues can also lead to the development of blood clots and a life-threatening rise in blood pressure.

4. Loss Of Bladder And Bowel Control

The control system from the brain to the spinal cord has been damaged, which results in the inability to release urine from the bladder.

This causes urinary infection (prostate cancer) and kidney stones in the long run.

Also, the stomach may work perfectly, but there will be an inability to excrete and control bowel movements. Intake of fiber, fruits, and food will help in this situation.

Treating Spinal Cord Injury

Here is a possible treatment for spinal cord injury.