What Is A Spinal Cord Injury

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What Is A Spinal Cord Injury
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What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury (SCI) happens when your spinal cord gets pulled, squeezed, bruised, or cut. Accidents--including car crashes, gunfights, falls, or sports injuries--are the most common cause. Some conditions, such as spina bifida or polio, can lead to SCI, too. Over 250,000 people in the US live with these injuries. An estimated 10,000 people develop SCI every year.

Because your spinal cord helps control your body's movement, SCI often leads to paralysis. Where the injury is and how bad it is determines how it affects your body. In general, the higher the injury in your spine, the more widespread the paralysis.

A complete spinal cord injury means you can't move or feel your arms, legs, or any other body part below the injury site. An incomplete injury means you still have some movement. Maybe you can raise your right arm more than your left. Or you might control one side of your body better than the other. About half of spinal cord injuries are incomplete.

SCI does not always mean permanent paralysis. When your injury first happens, your spinal cord may swell, which makes you feel numb in various parts of your body. At the hospital, doctors will treat your injury to reduce this swelling. Depending on the injury, your loss of feeling may be temporary or lasting. If you can begin moving or sensing touch--in your legs, for example—within the first week of an injury, you may recover almost fully. If you can't feel anything six months after an injury, your paralysis may be permanent.

In addition to paralysis, SCI brings other complications. Things most of us take for granted, like breathing easily, sleeping, going to the bathroom, or taking a shower, all change when parts of your body are paralyzed. Learning to live with SCI means learning to deal with these changes. You run a greater risk of urinary tract infections, bed sores, and stiffness, for example. Therapists and nursing staff can show you how to tackle these SCI effects.

At the moment, there is no cure for SCI. But researchers are making progress. In recent years, they've learned how to limit nerve damage after an injury. Now, several studies have shown that one day, medication and surgery may make it possible for spinal nerves to "grow back" after an injury--basically reversing the damage and allowing paralyzed people to move on their own again.

For now, while research continues, the best thing anyone with SCI can do is stay strong—mentally and physically. Exercise. Learn all the things you can do. Nourish your spirit by reaching out to peers. Explore your work options. Depend on your family and friends.

Today, one of the most talked-about people with SCI is actor Christopher Reeve, best known for his reoccurring role in the Superman movies. Thrown from a horse in 1996, Reeve suffered an incomplete C1-C2 injury—his spinal cord was damaged between the first and second cervical vertebrae, just at the base of his skull.

Reeve's sheer determination is inspiring. He now works to raise awareness (and money) for spinal cord research. In an August 1996 interview with U.S. News and World Report, Reeve shared his SCI philosophy: "What you begin to say to yourself, instead of 'What life do I have?' What life can I build?' And the answer, surprisingly, is, 'More than you think."