Level of Spinal Cord Injury

Level of Spinal Cord Injury
As many as 400,000 Americans are living with spinal cord injuries. Most spinal cord injuries occur between the ages of 16 and 30, and about 82 percent of those who experience spinal cord injuries are male. Motor vehicle accidents account for approximately 44 percent of all spinal cord injuries.

Doctors and specialists use the level of injury to most accurately predict which parts of the body are most likely to be affected by loss of movement and sensation. Complete injuries will result in total loss of movement and sensation below the point of injury, while incomplete injuries will result in some degree of loss of movement and sensation below the point of injury. Levels of injury are classified as:
Neck
C-1 to C-4
C-5
C-6
C-7 and T-1
T-1 to T-8

T-9 to T-12