Hearing the news
When you first hear the news that your relative has a spinal cord injury, you are likely to have both an emotional response and a number of questions that you want to ask.
- These are likely to be the same for many people, so we have tried to cover some of the most common reactions and questions here.
Finding out that your husband, wife or child has an SCI, whether through an accident or illness, can be an immensely traumatic and distressing time for anyone.
- During the early stages of an SCI, the doctors will explain the nature of your relative’s injury and the extent of any paralysis, but you may have to wait some time before knowing the likely prognosis for the future. Doctors are not always able to give a diagnosis straight away as it can take a long time for the body to recover from the initial shock.
- During this period, it is understandable that you may feel completely numb and may find it difficult accepting the reality or extent of the injury. In cases of major trauma there may also be the added anxiety of not knowing whether your relative is going to survive.
- You may find that you have difficulty taking in all the information that you are given, so do not be afraid to ask the hospital staff what is happening and, if necessary, ask them to re-explain your relative’s medical condition and what will be happening to them during their rehabilitation.
“As soon as I found out that he was alive, nothing else mattered”.
What is spinal cord injury?
- Your relative will be in hospital because they have sustained damage or trauma to their spinal cord.
- This will have resulted in loss of function and may have affected sensation and mobility in their body.
- The spinal cord is a major bundle of nerves carrying nerve impulses to and from the brain to the rest of the body and is protected by the spinal column, also known as vertebrae. The spinal column is made up of 33 bony rings called vertebra, the smallest vertebrae is in your neck and the largest in the lower back.
- Most damage to the spinal cord is caused by trauma or physical injury, but may also be as a result of a viral infection, cysts or tumours on or near the spinal cord.
Complete injury
Incomplete injury
Tetraplegia
Paraplegia
Complete injury
- A complete injury means that they will have no function, sensation or voluntary movement below the level of the injury.
- Both sides of their body will be equally affected.
- This can be confusing – the medical definition of complete or incomplete relates to whether the bladder, bowel and sexual function nerves are working, but in every day language “completeness” suggests “total”. This can lead to confusion when people are able to feel or move some part of the body, but not have what we require for them to be classified as incomplete.
Incomplete injury
An incomplete injury means there will be some function below the level of the injury.
A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, feel parts of the body that cannot be moved or may have more function on one side of the body than the other.
Tetraplegia
If your relative has a cervical (neck) injury, this usually results in tetraplegia (the older less-used term is quadriplegia).
- Tetraplegia means that all four limbs are affected and their body will be partially or fully paralysed, dependent on whether the injury is complete or incomplete.
- A person with a very high-level neck injury may require a ventilator to assist breathing.
Paraplegia
An SCI below the level of the neck in the thoracic or lumbar region of the spine, is known as paraplegia.
- This means that the injured person is likely to be paralysed, to some degree, in their chest, abdomen including bladder and bowels and legs, but will have good movement in their upper body and arms.
- The amount of movement in their trunk and chest will depend on the level of the injury
