What Are the Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury

In this article, we will discuss Spinal cord injury and its different symptoms. We will also discuss some common questions related to Spinal cord injury.

What is Spinal cord injury?

The spinal cord is an important component of the central nervous system, which is responsible for control and coordination. The spinal cord is a cylindrical structure made up of nerves and runs from the skull to the lower back. This carries messages between and bran in other parts of the body. Any damage to the spinal cord of can hamper the functioning is called spinal cord injury (SCI). the injury of the spinal cord can range from minor which can be manageable and treated. Whereas there are some major injuries, which can have permanent effects on the person.

What are the symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury?

Any injury to the spinal cord can lead to control and coordination problems. There are usually 3 types of signals that any spinal injury can affect, these signals are sensory, motor and autonomic.

Pain

Pain is a feeling caused by damaging stimuli of the sensory organ. This is the signal to the brain that something is wrong and helps to keep the individual safe. Pain can be of any type, it can come and go, it can be fast or constant or it can be felt in one part of the body. Different pains can give different signals of the abnormality.

Numbness

Numbness is the condition of losing the sensation in the body. It can be feeling or complete loss of feeling in any part of the body like fingers, hands, feet, arms, legs etc. Numbness is a problem in the nervous system of the person.

Tingling or Paresthesia

The sensation of tingling is also called paresthesia in technical terms. It is the sensation of burning, pricking, itching or numbness that a person feels under the skin. It can affect any part of the body or places of the body. It can happen without the outside cause and warning.

Weakness

The person can feel weakness in any part of the body or in the whole body. The weakness can be due to nerve loss in a specific area and part of the body. This is one of the symptoms of sensory damage to the spinal cord.

Paralysis

Loss of muscle function is the technical term for paralysis. When a person loses control of the body muscles of any part or the whole of the body. This makes the person to remain stand still. Paralysis can be permanent or temporary, but in both cases person is not able to control the muscle function of the paralysed area.

These are some of the symptoms of spinal cord injury. Other symptoms include spasticity, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature disruption etc.

Which Tests Are Used for the Detection of Spinal Cord Injuries

There are various types of tests used for the diagnosis of Spinal cord injury. These tests include Imaging tests, blood tests, biopsy tests etc.

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Conclusion

The spinal cord is a cylindrical structure made up of nerves and runs from the skull to the lower back. This carries messages between and bran in other parts of the body. Any damage to the spinal cord of can hamper the functioning is called spinal cord injury (SCI). The symptoms of SCI include pain, numbness, weakness, paralysis etc. There are different types of tests used to diagnose the condition like PET-CT Scan, Ultrasound, X-ray Scan etc.