What is a spinal cord injury?

A spinal cord injury can happen to anyone at any time. It’s a permanent and irreversible injury and prevention is the only cure.
On average, one person sustains a spinal cord injury every four days in Queensland – about 90 people each year.
Sustaining a spinal cord injury is a traumatic and devastating experience for any individual, and their family and friends. It changes their lives forever.
This short video explains the levels of function of spinal cord injury:
When the vertebrae of the spine are displaced or injured, the spinal cord, which is housed inside the spine, may also be injured. Spinal cord injury occurs if pressure is applied to the spinal cord, and/or the blood and oxygen supply to the cord is cut off.
The spinal cord can also become damaged as a result of the late effects of polio  or inflammation that may result from viral infections, abnormal immune reactions, or insufficient blood flow through the blood vessels located in the spinal cord (this can result in transverse myelitis – a neurological disorder caused by inflammation across both sides of one level, or segment, of the spinal cord).

If the spinal cord is damaged through crushing, bruising or severing the messages to and from the brain cannot get through. The millions of nerve fibres which make up the spinal cord cannot regenerate after injury.(Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms)
The damage to the spinal cord may be complete or incomplete, depending on the degree of injury to the nerve fibres. Incomplete injury can result in movement and sensation abnormalities and a complete injury usually means total loss of movement and sensation – permanent paralysis.
Generally, the level and degree of injury to the spinal cord will determine the extent and areas of paralysis. A person who has paraplegia will usually always have full use of their hands, arms and shoulders. The damage to their spinal cord will have occurred in the upper or lower back (thoracic, lumbar or sacral regions). A person who has quadriplegia will not be able to fully use their hands, arms and shoulders. The damage to their spinal cord will have occurred in the neck (cervical region).
Spinal damage can occur at the sacral or coccygeal levels. When this occurs, the bowel, bladder and the leg area below the knee are generally affected. However, many people who injure their spinal cord at this level will be able to walk with the assistance of special aids, such as a walking stick or foot splints etc.

Spinal cord injury research into nerve reconnection continues to be carried out throughout the world, including Australia.