| | Learn About Spinal Cord Injury LawyersThe spinal cord has many nerve fibers that serve as the messenger system for the human body, delivering commands from the brain to different parts of the body. The spinal cord travel through the spinal column, which is divided into four sections: the cervical region, or neck area; the thoracic area, or midsection of the spine; the lumbar area, or lower back, and; the sacral area, or tailbone. Damage to the spinal cord can result from traumatic injury, disease, or simply from the aging process. Each spinal cord injury, however, is different. In most spinal cord injuries, the backbone pinches the spinal cord, causing it to become bruised or swollen. Sometimes the injury may tear the spinal cord and/or its nerve fibers. An infection or a disease can result in similar damage. After a spinal cord injury, all the nerves above the level of injury keep working like they always have. From the point of injury and below, the spinal cord nerves cannot send messages between the brain and parts of the body like they did before the injury. A Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as mobility or feeling. The spinal cord does not actually have to be severed in order for a loss of function to occur. There are two types of spinal cord injury and two classifications. Types of Spinal cord injury: - Complete: no functioning below the level of injury, as well as no sensation or voluntary movement. Both sides of the body are equally affected.
- Incomplete: some functioning below the level of injury. A person with an incomplete spinal injury may be able to move one limb more than another, may be able feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other.
Classifications of spinal cord injury: - Tetraplegia (formerly known as quadriplegia): injury to the spinal cord in the cervical spine (neck) segments with associated loss of muscle strength in all 4 extremities.
- Paraplegia: injury in the spinal cord in the thoracic (mid back), lumbar (low back), or sacral (pelvic) segments, including the cauda equina and conus medullaris.
Effects of Spinal cord injury: The spinal cord is surrounded by rings of bone called vertebrae. These bones constitute the spinal column (back bones). In general, the higher in the spinal column the injury occurs, the more dysfunction a person will experience. The vertebra are named according to their location. Cervical Vertebrae
The eight vertebrae in the neck are the Cervical Vertebrae. The first cervical vertebra is called C-1, the next is C-2, etc. Cervical spinal cord injuries usually cause loss of function in the arms and legs, resulting in tetraplegia (quadriplegia). Injuries above the C-4 level may result in breathing dysfuntions that require a ventilator for the person to breathe. C-5 injuries often result in no loss of shoulder and biceps control, but loss of control at the wrist or hand. C-6 injuries generally yield no loss of wrist control, but lose control of hand function. Individuals with C-7 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms but still may have dexterity problems with the hand and fingers. Thoratic Vertebrae
The twelve vertebra in the chest are the Thoracic Vertebrae. The first thoracic vertebra, T-1, is the vertebra where the top rib attaches. Injuries in the thoracic region usually affect the chest and the legs and result in paraplegia. At T-1 through T-8 there is most often control of the hands, but poor trunk control as the result of lack of abdominal muscle control. Lower T-injuries (T-9 through T-12) allow good truck control, good abdominal muscle control, and good sitting balance, but result in loss of control in the legs. Lumbar and Sacral Vertebrae
The vertebrae in the lower back between the thoracic vertebrae, where the ribs attach, and the pelvis (hip bone), are the Lumbar Vertebrae. The Sacral Vertebrae run from the pelvis to the end of the spinal column. Injuries to the five Lumbar Vertebrae (L-1 through L-5) and similarly to the five Sacral Vertebrae (S-1 thru S-5) generally result in decreasing control and function of the hip flexors and legs.
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