What is Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)?

Your spinal cord is a bundle of nerves running down the middle of your back. It carries signals between your body and your brain. A spinal cord injury damages these nerves and disrupts the signals.

Spinal cord injuries can be complete or incomplete. With a complete spinal cord injury, the cord can’t send signals below the level of the injury. As a result, you are paralysed below the injury. With an incomplete injury, you have some movement and sensation below the injury.

Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury

The symptoms of spinal cord injury will depend on the level of the injury. There will either be reduced or complete loss of movement and sensation below the level of the injury. This is likely to lead to difficulties with walking, balance in sitting and possibly arm function.

Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

Immediately following your injury, you will be admitted to hospital for acute management and early rehabilitation. This stage of the process may take several months.

Once you have been discharged home from hospital, ongoing rehabilitation is very important to ensure that you reach your full potential. Rehabilitation is likely to focus on transfers, a standing programme, stretches, upper limb function/strengthening, wheelchair skills and helping you to overcome any difficulties you encounter when returning to work and family life.

How can Neurocare Physiotherapy help me?

At Neurocare, we are all highly specialised in treating neurological conditions, so you can be confident that your physiotherapist will have the necessary experience to provide you with the specialist level of treatment which you deserve.