Spinal Cord InjuryBy: David Smith

What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury is when you get hit and the cells are damaged on the cord

It also cuts the nerve which can lead to paralysis from where the injury happened down

http://www.stritmatter.com/washington-personal-injury/seattle-spinal-cord-injuries/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/188833-spinal-cord-injury-side-effects/

How many happen a year?

In the US, there is around 12 to 15 thousand spinal cord injuries that happen during each year

Most of the people die from thisThe majority of the injuries that occur

usually happen to young peopleIt mostly happens between the age of 15

and 35.

Spinal Cord Injury in sports

Kevin Everett suffered a spinal cord injury in a football game while trying to make a tackle

The doctors said that he probably wouldn’t walk for the rest of his life

Though just two days after he suffered the injury he was showing signs of moving his arms and legs

Kevin Everett

Kevin Everett

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3012739

Surgery

They usually keep the surgery for the people that the paralysis keeps on spreading throughout their body

Surgery can be used to clear blood clots and anything putting pressure on the spinal cord

Recovery

There is no known medication that can repair those damaged cells. There is always people now though that are looking for ways to.

There is rehabilitation where physical therapists will help to try and get the movement back into your lower body

They also have nurses that help out with the bladder and bowel functions

Recovery

They also have psychologists, speech therapists, occupation therapists, and case manager that help throughout this process

http://www.vcuhealth.org/?id=844&sid=1

Works Cited

http://www.spinal-cord.org/?type=search&keyword=%2Bspinal%20%2Bcord%20%2Binjuries&adid=2168260665&placement=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Everett http://www.catastrophicinjury.com/guide_spinal.php http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1265209-overview