Spinal Cord Injury Support – Paraplegic and Quadriplegic

Posted: May 19, 2015 at 11:42 pm

Welcome to Apparelyzed, a free spinal cord injury peer support website run by individuals with spinal cord injuries. Here you will find health information which has been submitted, and is discussed between the spinal injury community. Please use the links on the left of this page to navigate the website, and the section index below to navigate this page. We hope you find the website useful, and consider joining in on some of the discussions in the spinal cord injury forum. Spinal Cord Injury Homepage Quick Links What is a Spinal Cord Injury ? A spinal cord injury (SCI) is generally defined as damage or trauma to the spinal cord that results in a loss or impaired function. The paralysis from the damaged spinal cord may affect mobility, sensation, bladder function, bowel function or sexual function. When a person has been paralysed due to a spinal cord injury, paraplegic and quadriplegic (tetraplegic) are terms used to describe the resultant medical condition. The classification of spinal cord injury depends on the spinal cord injury level and severity of a persons paralysis, and how it affects their limbs. The spinal cord injury level is usually referred to alpha numerically, relating to the affected segment in the spinal cord, ie, C4, T5, L5 etc. Common causes of damage to the spinal cord are trauma (car/motorcycle accident, gunshot, falls, sports injuries, physical attacks), or disease (Transverse Myelitis, Polio, Spina Bifida, Friedreich's Ataxia, spinal cord tumour, spinal stenosis, etc.). The resulting damage to the spinal cord is known as a lesion, and the paralysis is known as quadriplegia or quadraplegia / tetraplegia if the injury is in the cervical (neck) region, or as paraplegia if the injury is in the thoracic, lumbar or sacral region. It is possible for someone to suffer a broken neck,or a broken back without becoming paralysed. This occurs when there is a fracture or dislocation of the vertebrae, but the spinal cord has not been damaged. Sometimes minor swelling of the spinal cord will result in temporary paralysis, which can be recovered from after several weeks or months.

If you would like to read more about people's experiences of Cauda Equina Syndrome, please visit the discussion area of the Cauda Equina Syndrome Forum.

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Spinal Cord Injury Support - Paraplegic and Quadriplegic

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