When someone suffers a spinal injury
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Readers are likely well aware how devastating a spinal cord injury could be. Partial or total paralysis of one’s body is an outcome that few can imagine having to adapt to. Sadly, people find that they are in this situation for a variety of reasons. While the consequences of such an injury may be well known, what exactly happens in the body to cause those symptoms to occur may not be as clear. Damage to nerves in the body is to blame.
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Nerves control muscle contractions when the brain sends the message to move. When the nerves are injured in an accident involving the spine, the electrical impulses that the brain sends to stimulate them, do not excite the nerves in the way they previously did. In the most serious cases they do not stimulate the nerves at all. This results in the muscles failing to move. In addition to affecting nerves in the spine, this can also impact nerves that run to the person’s limbs.
Following a spinal cord injury it is important that care is taken to maintain the nerves in the limbs–known as peripheral nerves. Doing so could make rehab more effective in the future and reduce the severity and type of complications that arise as a result of the spinal injury. According to a study recently published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, stimulating those nerves could play a role in reversing the deterioration that could otherwise occur following a spinal cord injury.
Those who suffer a spinal injury should take steps to get the medical attention necessary to minimize the impact of their injury. In addition, if the injury is due to the negligence of another party, the injured individual might benefit from working with a personal injury lawyer to file a lawsuit, as well.
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