What is the spine and spinal cord? What is its importance in the body?
The spine consists of bones called vertebrae, which are connected to each other by soft tissue, joints, and intervertebral pads (discs). Spinal cord injury occurs within this sheltered bone structure.
This chain of vertebrae allows our body to stand upright, bend and rotate sideways. In addition, the ring bone structure at the back of each vertebra both protects the spinal cord against external factors and also allows the spinal cord to pass through this gap.
The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that is part of the central nervous system as a continuation of the brain located in the spine. All the nerves going to our arms and feet, and some nerves going to the muscles of the rib cage, bladder, bowel, and sexual organs come out of the spinal cord.
What is spinal cord injury?
Spinal cord injury is a serious condition that concerns both the patients themselves and their families. Spinal injuries of varying severity, ranging from mild soft tissue injury to spinal fracture and spinal cord injuries, are among the most important causes of paralysis.
5-10 % of spinal fractures resulting from trauma occur in the cervical vertebrae, 70 % in the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae. The most frequently injured area is the “last dorsal and first lumbar vertebrae” region, which is the most mobile region of the spine.
What are the causes of spinal cord injury?
As a result of damage to the vertebrae for any reason, the spinal cord inside is damaged and spinal cord injury occurs.
The most common cause of spinal cord damage in the world is traffic accidents. If you suffer a spinal cord injury after a car accident, you may be entitled to reimbursement for compensation, such as the cost of treatment for your injury. Accident lawyers will explain the compensation process to you in detail.
In addition to traffic accidents, falls from height, sports injuries and gunshot wounds are among the causes of spinal cord injuries. Apart from traumatic causes, non-traumatic causes such as spinal cord tumours, spinal cord infections, motor neuron diseases, disc hernias can cause spinal cord damage.
Rehabilitation in spinal cord injuries
Rehabilitation and physical therapy are vital treatment modalities for such patients. The goal of rehabilitation is to avoid complications and ensure that the patient is self-sufficient in his / her daily activities. For this purpose, the main purpose is to try to regain strength in the muscles with loss of strength. Being treated by a competent specialist will be the most important step you will take to make your life easier in this sense. Because in some cases, the wrong or incomplete treatment either delays or prevents the recovery of the patient’s health status. If you feel that you have been exposed to such a situation, you can contact the personal injury lawyers in Sydney to find out what your entitlements are.
For rehabilitation purposes:
- range of motion exercises,
- stretching exercises,
- muscle strengthening exercises,
- approaches such as neural facilitation techniques,
- robotic rehabilitation,
- hydrotherapy, aqua therapy,
- rehabilitation techniques such as functional neuromuscular electrical stimulation and biofeedback can be applied.
In order to prevent muscle wasting, in-bed exercises should be applied, and the patient should be brought to a vertical position as soon as possible. If conditions allow, it should be tried to be carried out with auxiliary devices and external supports as soon as possible.