Spinal Cord Injury Overview

Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms

There are two variables that have a considerable impact on the severity of spinal cord injury symptoms:

1. Injury location -- Injuries sustained higher up the spinal cord closer to the neck result in more severe paralysis. For instance, damage to the spinal cord in the vicinity of your neck has the potential to paralyze all four of the victim's extremities (arms and legs). When an injury this atrocious occurs, the victim also loses total control of respiratory activity. Instead, they must rely on a respirator to automate the breathing process for them. On the other hand, an injury to a lower portion of the spinal cord may only leave body motionless from the waist down.
2. Injury severity -- A spinal cord injury is either deemed partial or complete depending on how much of it has been severed. With a partial or incomplete spinal cord injury, it is still possible for the spinal cord to send and receive messages to and from the brain. These victims still have some amount of feeling and maybe even slight mobility in body parts below the injury site. A complete spinal cord injury results in a total loss (or very close to it) of mobility and feeling below the injured region. Although a complete injury would lead you to believe that the spinal cord has been severed into two pieces, it is rarely cut in half. The term complete is used when there is so much damage to the spinal cord that the patient has no chance of ever resuming a life that remotely resembles what they had prior to the accident or illness. But, someone with a partial injury may be able to gain a large percentage of their motor functions back through the rehabilitation process.

Any spinal cord injury will result in at least one of the following symptoms:

• Pain or an excruciating tingling feeling stimulated by damaging the spinal cord nerves
• Reduced mobility
• Loss of touch (e.g., ability to decipher between hot and cold)
• Loss of bladder and/or bowel control
• Overemphasized reflexes or spasms
• Loss of sexual virility, sensitivity, and fertility
• Problems inhaling and exhaling, coughing, or clearing fluid from your lungs

Signs that you have suffered a severe cord injury deserving emergency attention include:

• Inability to stay full conscious
• Unbearable back pain or a weighty feeling on your back or neck
• Weakness, clumsiness, or paralysis anywhere on your body
• Tingling or loss of feeling in hands, fingers, feet, or toes
• Loss of bladder and/or bowel control
• Equilibrium out of sync and problems walking
• Shortness of breath or inability to breathe
• Contorted neck or back