Spinal cord injury rehabilitation is the best therapy for people who suffer from trauma and pain to the spinal cord due to injury or disease. Spinal cord treatment is done to increase joint motion, flexibility, better endurance, maximize functionality and most importantly, give strength to the spinal cord and other associated organs.
An injury to the spinal cord can result in vertebral dislocation. Vertebrae are bone disks that make up our spine. In many cases, injuries do not break the spinal cord, but they are quite serious especially when parts of vertebrae rip into the cord tissue or impair the nerves that transmit signals to the brain.
Due to this, the cannot carry the messages to the brain, which results in overall disruption of functions in the body. This leads to ‘paralyses due to the injury in serious cases. When the injury is not so serious, one is able to detect some sensation below the injury area, which otherwise would be numb. Spinal cord rehabilitation and treatment should help the patient get back to the road to recovery or better management of heath and body functionality.
Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Benefits
Spinal cord injury rehabilitation benefits include
- Better functionality and independence: The specialists through a process of treatment and rehab, ensure that there is a mammoth level of progress in terms o the patient’s ability to do day-to-day activities and do things on an independent basis, as much as possible.
- Better emotional support: Spinal cord injury rehabilitation specialists ensure that they give the necessary emotional support and mental strength to the patient to make them feel that they do have the ability and support to get back on their feet.
- The right tools and programs: There are a set of tools and programs that can help the patient recover quite faster and in a goal-oriented manner.
- Continuous monitoring: The patient is continuously monitored by a team of therapists, doctors and nurses who make notes and devise better ways to help the patient get better with every passing day.
- Emotional and mental support: The specialists at spinal cord injury rehabilitation can give us the emotional strength to cope up with the weakness and the required motivation high to get back in form.
- Counseling: Relatives and friends of the spinal cord injury patient of the spinal cord injury patient may have trouble communicating and coping with the injury and slow progress of the patient. . The counseling given by experts helps the friends and relatives understand the nature of the disease and how things can be better for him.
The facilitatory impact of the rural social setting’ (2000) is a research organization that evaluated the efficiency of spinal cord injury rehabilitation. It stated how the therapy can be suited for 47 agricultural industry workers who suffered from spinal cord injury.
Due to spinal cord injury a person becomes paralyzed and unable to talk or walk. This is the disease where not just the person but his entire family is demoralized and traumatized. But that does not mean one should give hope. The injury can be treated and the person can again be on the road to recovery. Spinal cord injury rehabilitation includes a dedicated team of rehab specialists who have tools and systems that can help you get better; they impart speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy among many other forms of treatment. Close monitoring, consistent training and recreational therapy can go a long way in making sure that the person is able to recover in a much better manner from spinal cord injury.
Is there cure for spinal cord injury?
Damage to the spinal cord is sadly permanent and there is no cure; there is less chances of a person to walk again independently. However there is adequate research being done which shows that treatment and restoration is very much possible. The treatment is personalized and the exercises and programs can help the muscles to be strengthened so that there is better movement and ease in doing day to day activities like dressing, eating, managing personal activities etc.
Causes of spinal cord injury
The cause of spinal cord injury or reasons are usually motor vehicle accident, fall or sports injuries.
Differences between quadriplegia and paraplegia
Paraplegia is paralysis from the waist down while quadriplegia is paralysis from below the shoulders. The main issue with spinal cord injury is loss of sensation below the level of injury, which can also imply inability to control bladder and bowel movement.