Spinal Cord Injury
What is it?
A spinal cord injury or SCI is an injury that damages the spinal cord, the bundle of nerves and nerve fibres that sends and receives signals from the brain. The spinal cord runs from the lower part of the brain down through the spine to the base of the back.
Spinal cord injuries can be complete or incomplete and can lead to partial or complete loss of sensory and/or motor function. The effects of the spinal cord injury on function will depend on the severity of the SCI and what level of the spine has been affected. Effects of SCI can range from weakness in any part of the body to complete paralysis
Common Side Effects Include:
- Reduced mobility with varying degrees of immobility i.e needing a stick to walk or being wheelchair bound
Reduced limb function with varying degrees of disability
Reduced balance leading to recurrent falls
Muscles being either too active or too relaxed
Reduced sense of self i.e reduced independence, reduced confidence, a change in the way you think about or see yourself.
How Can We Help?
Cortex Physiotherapy will help you to move freely and live fully. Recovery from a spinal cord injury varies greatly depending on a lot of factors including, but not limited to, the severity of the SCI and what level of the spine has been affected. Where there has been an incomplete SCI there may be potential for recovery. Cortex physiotherapy will help you shape and optimise that recovery. Where there has been a complete SCI there may not be any potential for recovery and our focus will then change to using what you have to achieve what you want.
We will also provide treatment to manage the symptoms of your SCI in order to optimise the quality of your life. Recovery, even when we are talking about compromise, is heavily dependent on the individual challenging themselves and committing themselves to the rehabilitation programme provided by Cortex Physiotherapy.
Potential for improvement is something that is very difficult to determine and each individual case will be different. Cortex Physiotherapy will always have an open and honest discussion about potential for improvement and this will be regularly monitored and discussed to ensure that you and your therapist are working as a team. You will receive a full neurological examination to determine where your individual problems lie, after this you and your therapist will have a discussion about what matters most to you. Your therapist will then tailor your treatment to your goals and your journey to the life you want begins.