What happens to the spinal cord when it is injured?
As a major bundle of nerves responsible for relaying impulses from the brain to the rest of the body, damage to the spinal cord affects a person’s ability to move and feel. Any trauma to these nerves during an accident, or trauma to the surrounding blood vessels, soft tissue, and bones surrounding this central network of nerves, can result in a complete or partial loss of feeling and/or mobility.
What are the two types of spinal cord injuries?
There are two different classifications of spinal cord injuries: complete and incomplete. In a complete injury, a person suffers a lack of voluntary movement or feeling in the level below the site of the injury. Incomplete injuries, on the other hand, leave the victim with some limited functioning.
The most serious spinal cord injuries can result in either paraplegia, in which the victim loses all sensation and movement in their trunk and legs, or quadriplegia, in which the victim is left with partial or full paralysis of all four limbs from the neck down. Persons with quadriplegia suffer a huge blow to their quality of life, completely losing the ability to move or care for themselves.