Kolakolli - The Rogue Elephant

Livibg with spinal cord injury

Life after a spinal cord injury can be as enjoyable and productive as any non-disabled person. A persons potential is only limited by their determination. But there are physical and sometimes psychological issues that come with a spinal cord injury that cannot be ignored, your health and quality of life depend on it. ( Please see our disclaimer )

	Pressure sores A pressure sore is any redness or break in the skin caused by too much pressure on your skin for too long a period of time. The pressure prevents blood from getting to your skin so the skin dies... Smoking and SCI For SCI survivors who smoke there's even more bad news and more ill health effects than those cited for the general population. Specifically, there is an increased incidence of skin sores, a decreased ability to heal following skin surgeries, and a greater likelihood of atelectasis (collapsed lung) Bladder care and management The body's urinary system has three major functions. It makes urine in the kidneys; stores urine in the bladder; and removes urine from the body through the urethra...

Life After Spinal Injury,Stem cell theraphy treatment,Patients History,Their Requirements

The spinal cord is the major bundle of nerves that carry nerve impulses to and from the brain to the rest of the body

What is Spinal Cord Injury?

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as mobility or feeling. Frequent causes of damage are trauma (car accident, gunshot, falls, etc.) or disease (polio, spina bifida, Friedreich's Ataxia, etc.).

What is the spinal cord and the vertebra?

The spinal cord is about 18 inches long and extends from the base of the brain, down the middle of the back, to about the waist. The nerves that lie within the spinal cord are upper motor neurons (UMNs) and their function is to carry the messages back and forth from the brain to the spinal nerves along the spinal tract. The spinal nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the other parts of the body are called lower motor neurons (LMNs). These spinal nerves exit and enter at each vertebral level and communicate with specific areas of the body. The sensory portions of the LMN carry messages about sensation from the skin and other body parts and organs to the brain. The motor portions of the LMN send messages from the brain to the various body parts to initiate actions such as muscle movement.

Spinal Injury Classification?
The higher in the spinal column the injury occurs, the more dysfunction a person will experience.The eight vertebra in the neck are called the Cervical Vertebra.

Cervical SCI's (C1 t0C8)usually cause loss of function in the arms and legs, resulting in quadriplegia.
Injuries in the thoracic region usually affect the chest and the legs and result in paraplegia.

What are the effects of SCI?

The effects of SCI depend on the type of injury and the level of the injury. SCI can be divided into two types of injury - complete and incomplete.

Complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury; no sensation and no voluntary movement. Both sides of the body are equally affected.

Incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury. A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other.

How many people have SCI? Who are they?

Approximately 450,000 people live with SCI in the US. There are about 10,000 new SCI's every year; the majority of them (82%) involve males between the ages of 16-30. These injuries result from motor vehicle accidents (36%), violence (28.9%), or falls (21.2%).Quadriplegia is slightly more common than paraplegia.