Symptoms
The most common symptom of a spinal injury is pain. Spinal injuries cause weakness and sensory loss and may proceed to paralysis with loss of all sensation and reflexes if the spinal nerves are damaged. It may also affect breathing and blood pressure, and lead to arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), pneumonia, bowel, bladder or erectile dysfunction. Spinal injuries are diagnosed using X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine.
Treatments
Spinal trauma is an emergency condition and should be treated immediately to avoid further injury to the spinal cord. Immobilization of the head, neck and back is often the initial intervention. You may be treated with medications and epidural injections (injecting into spine) to alleviate pain. Surgery is recommended when other treatments are unsuccessful or inappropriate, and involves stabilization of any fractures and release of pressure from the compressed nerves and spinal cord. Completely damaged nerve tissue cannot be regenerated, but can be managed over time to restore some amount of feeling and function.
Long-term recovery from a traumatic spinal injury is based on physical therapy to prevent muscle wasting and development of contractures, occupational therapy to learn alternative methods of performing daily activities, and speech therapy to improve communication if needed.
