Understanding Spinal Cord Injury
The Body Before and After Injury
This fact sheet is intended to be a starting point for understanding the normal functions of the spinal cord and how those functions might change after a spinal cord injury. The impact of an injury is different for each person, so it is impossible to answer every individual question, but this summary answers some of the common questions.
This summary covers:
- What is the spine, the spinal cord, and what the spinal cord does.
- What a spinal cord injury is, and an introduction to “level of injury” and “complete” and “incomplete” spinal cord injuries.
In order to view all pages of the PDF file you need to scroll down within the embedded PDF below.
Recovery and Rehabilitation
This fact sheet answers some of the common questions people have during the early period after injury. Part one, The Body Before and After Injury, explains terms and information that are discussed in this fact sheet, including severity, level of injury, and changes in function.
This summary addresses:
- While there is typically no cure for paralysis from a spinal cord injury, there can often be improvements, including improvements in functional abilities.
- What is rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury, including who are the key members of the rehab team, and the injured person’s role in rehabilitation.
- Advice from other people with spinal cord injuries about rehabilitation.
- Functional goals after injuries at different spinal cord levels.
In order to view all pages of the PDF file you need to scroll down within the embedded PDF below.
Adjusting to Life After Spinal Cord Injury
It is important that rehabilitation is your main focus in the initial months after a spinal cord injury. This fact sheet talks about:- What is it like when a person first goes home from the hospital after a spinal cord injury.
- Some insights about adjusting well to life after a spinal cord injury.
- How a spinal cord injury may affect family relationships, including parenting.
- Adjustments needed to manage health after a spinal cord injury.
Spinal Cord Injury Facts and Figures at a Glance
This data sheet is a quick reference on demographics, health care expenses, and historical life expectancy for people with spinal cord injuries in the United States.
Some of the key points from this fact sheet:
- Males are by far more likely to have spinal cord injuries than females; about 78% of the new spinal cord injury cases since 2015 were suffered by males.
- Fewer than 1% of people with spinal cord injuries have complete neurological recovery by the time they are discharged from the hospital.
- About 30% of people with spinal cord injuries are re-hospitalized one or more times during any given year following their initial injury.
In order to view all pages of the PDF file you need to scroll down within the embedded PDF below.
Recent Trends in Causes of Spinal Cord Injury
This data sheet looks at the causes of spinal cord injury between 2010 and 2020. Below are some of the key takeaways from the recent trends in spinal cord injuries:- Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries and account for about 38% of the total number of cases.
- Falls rank second in causes of spinal cord injury, accounting for about 31% of the total number of cases.
- Acts of violence are the third leading cause of spinal cord injuries, accounting for about 14% of the total. Of these acts of violence, gunshot wounds are by far the most common.
- Sports & recreational activities account for just over 8% of spinal cord injuries, ranking fourth in causes of spinal cord injury; of these, diving incidents are the most common.