The ability to control your limbs after a spinal cord injury depends on two factors: the place of the injury along your spinal cord and the severity of injury to the spinal cord.
The severity of the injury is often classified as either of the following:
- Complete. If all feeling (sensory) and all ability to control movement (motor function) are lost below the spinal cord injury, the injury is called complete.
- Incomplete. If there is some motor or sensory function below the affected area, your injury is called incomplete.
Paralysis as a result of a spinal cord injury may be referred to as:
- Tetraplegia Also known as quadriplegia, it means that your arms, hands, trunk, legs and pelvic organs are all affected by the spinal cord injury.
- Paraplegia. It means all or part of the trunk, legs and pelvic organs are affected.
Emergency symptoms
- Extreme back pain or pressure in neck, head or back
- Weakness, incoordination or paralysis in any part of the body
- Numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in hands, fingers, feet or toes
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Difficulty in balancing and walking
- Impaired breathing
- An oddly positioned or twisted neck or back
