Spinal cord injuries occur due to trauma to the spine. The spinal cord is one of the three components of our nervous system. Hence, injury to the spine results in dysfunction in the overall body.
In addition, the injuries to the spinal cord affect the body in specific ways, including:
- Spinal Cord Reflexes:
The brain sends the messages to the spinal cord, which sends these messages throughout the body. If the spinal cord is damaged, this communication process suffers.
The spinal nerves below the injury level get the signals; however, these signals cannot travel to the brain’s spinal tracts. Hence, reflex movements can occur, but they are involuntary. You can visit a spinal injury hospital if this problem persists.
- Breathing:
If the injury occurs in the C3, C4, and C5 spinal cord segments, it can lead to breathing stoppage. People who suffer this injury need immediate ventilator support to survive.
The 3 muscles that carry out the breathing and coughing function are the diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal. An injury to the spinal cord can weaken these three muscles. When the injury is below the C5 level, the diaphragm remains functional, but breathing becomes shallow and rapid.
In addition, it causes difficulty in coughing and clearing secretions from the lungs because of weak thoracic muscles. However, after the pulmonary function improves, most C4 injuries can shift from mechanical ventilation in the following weeks.
- Autonomic Hyperreflexia:
It is also known as autonomic dysreflexia or hyper dysreflexia. People who have a spinal cord injury above T6 are at high risk for this disease. Autonomic dysreflexia occurs because nerve messages that travel up the spinal cord to the brain suffer blockage.
Autonomic dysreflexia is a severe condition and requires immediate medical attention. If left untreated, it can cause stroke, heart attack, or seizures.
The symptoms of hyper dyslexia include:
- High blood pressure
- Anxiety
- Severe pounding headache
- Low heart rate
- Sweating above the injury level
- Nasal stiffness
- Neurogenic Shock:
The brain manages blood pressure and heart rate. Signals are sent to the spinal cord by the brain to constrict blood vessels and raise the heart rate to normalize blood pressure and heart rate. Furthermore, if these signals cannot get through, a person can suffer from low blood pressure and slow heart rate.
When the head of the bed is raised suddenly, the blood pressure may drop due to the dilation of vessels situated below the level of injury. In this case, the blood vessels cannot constrict fast enough to prevent blood pressure from dropping. This is why a good ortho doctor would suggest raising the head of the bed gradually and using an abdominal binder to avoid a blood pressure drop.
- Altered temperature regulation
A person may become unable to sweat and male goosebumps below the level of injury. The body is unable to adjust to its temperature.
A person might experience feeling cold and thus needing blankets, then later feels hot and wants to be under a fan or uncovered.
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
DVT is a type of blood clot that may develop in the legs and arms. It’s generally caused due to a lack of movement. Elastic stockings, sequential compression devices, and foot pumps can prevent DVT. One more way to prevent DVT is the regular exercise of the arms and legs.
- Bladder control
An injury to the spine can hamper the exchange of signals between your bladder and brain. Generally, the brain receives the signal from the spinal cord when the bladder is full. However, after a spinal cord injury, the message may not be able to reach the brain.
A urinary catheter is placed after a spinal cord injury to drain the bladder. The catheter is taken out once the body starts adjusting to the injury. First, nurses check the bladder volume. Next, a catheter is put in to drain the urine and then is taken out when the bladder gets empty. Furthermore, returning bladder tone is dependent on the level of the spinal cord injury.
- Skin
Protective covering on your body is skin. Skin breakdown can be caused by excess pressure, heat, or wetness. The skin ulcer can now become infected. The body is unable to warn of dangers to the skin after a spinal cord injury.
- Brain injury
In most cases, people who have suffered from severe trauma to their back and neck are prone to have injuries to their brains. These injuries can vary from mild concussions to more severe injuries. They can result in difficulty remembering, hamper concentration and communication, and cause personality changes.
- Muscles and tendons
Spasticity may happen when the signals from the brain cannot reach the muscles due to spinal cord injury. The inability to stretch the muscles is a result of spasticity.
However, your doctor can treat spasticity. For example, baclofen and repositioning can help in treating spasticity. Botox injections are also an option.
This was a peek into the critical spinal cord injuries from a medical perspective. Get in touch with a skilled orthopedic surgeon for spinal cord injury nerve pain medication and rehabilitation.
Spinal cord injuries occur due to trauma to the spine. The spinal cord is one of the three components of our nervous system. Hence, injury to the spine results in dysfunction in the overall body.
In addition, the injuries to the spinal cord affect the body in specific ways, including:
- Spinal Cord Reflexes:
The brain sends the messages to the spinal cord, which sends these messages throughout the body. If the spinal cord is damaged, this communication process suffers.
The spinal nerves below the injury level get the signals; however, these signals cannot travel to the brain’s spinal tracts. Hence, reflex movements can occur, but they are involuntary. You can visit a spinal injury hospital if this problem persists.
- Breathing:
If the injury occurs in the C3, C4, and C5 spinal cord segments, it can lead to breathing stoppage. People who suffer this injury need immediate ventilator support to survive.
The 3 muscles that carry out the breathing and coughing function are the diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal. An injury to the spinal cord can weaken these three muscles. When the injury is below the C5 level, the diaphragm remains functional, but breathing becomes shallow and rapid.
In addition, it causes difficulty in coughing and clearing secretions from the lungs because of weak thoracic muscles. However, after the pulmonary function improves, most C4 injuries can shift from mechanical ventilation in the following weeks.
- Autonomic Hyperreflexia:
It is also known as autonomic dysreflexia or hyper dysreflexia. People who have a spinal cord injury above T6 are at high risk for this disease. Autonomic dysreflexia occurs because nerve messages that travel up the spinal cord to the brain suffer blockage.
Autonomic dysreflexia is a severe condition and requires immediate medical attention. If left untreated, it can cause stroke, heart attack, or seizures.
The symptoms of hyper dyslexia include:
- High blood pressure
- Anxiety
- Severe pounding headache
- Low heart rate
- Sweating above the injury level
- Nasal stiffness
- Neurogenic Shock:
The brain manages blood pressure and heart rate. Signals are sent to the spinal cord by the brain to constrict blood vessels and raise the heart rate to normalize blood pressure and heart rate. Furthermore, if these signals cannot get through, a person can suffer from low blood pressure and slow heart rate.
When the head of the bed is raised suddenly, the blood pressure may drop due to the dilation of vessels situated below the level of injury. In this case, the blood vessels cannot constrict fast enough to prevent blood pressure from dropping. This is why a good ortho doctor would suggest raising the head of the bed gradually and using an abdominal binder to avoid a blood pressure drop.
- Altered temperature regulation
A person may become unable to sweat and male goosebumps below the level of injury. The body is unable to adjust to its temperature.
A person might experience feeling cold and thus needing blankets, then later feels hot and wants to be under a fan or uncovered.
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
DVT is a type of blood clot that may develop in the legs and arms. It’s generally caused due to a lack of movement. Elastic stockings, sequential compression devices, and foot pumps can prevent DVT. One more way to prevent DVT is the regular exercise of the arms and legs.
- Bladder control
An injury to the spine can hamper the exchange of signals between your bladder and brain. Generally, the brain receives the signal from the spinal cord when the bladder is full. However, after a spinal cord injury, the message may not be able to reach the brain.
A urinary catheter placed after a spinal cord injury to drain the bladder. The catheter taken out once the body starts adjusting to the injury. First, nurses check the bladder volume. Next, a catheter put in to drain the urine and then taken out when the bladder gets empty. Furthermore, returning bladder tone is dependent on the level of the spinal cord injury.
- Skin
Protective covering on your body is skin. Skin breakdown can caused by excess pressure, heat, or wetness. The skin ulcer can now become infected. The body is unable to warn of dangers to the skin after a spinal cord injury.
- Brain injury
In most cases, people who have suffered from severe trauma to their back and neck are prone to have injuries to their brains. These injuries can vary from mild concussions to more severe injuries. They can result in difficulty remembering, hamper concentration and communication, and cause personality changes.
- Muscles and tendons
Spasticity may happen when the signals from the brain cannot reach the muscles due to spinal cord injury. The inability to stretch the muscles is a result of spasticity.
However, your doctor can treat spasticity. For example, baclofen and repositioning can help in treating spasticity. Botox injections are also an option.
This was a peek into the critical spinal cord injuries from a medical perspective. Get in touch with a skilled orthopedic surgeon for spinal cord injury nerve pain medication and rehabilitation.
