1.1 Explain The Role Of Spinal Cord Injury In The Uk

Injuries to the spinal cord may be caused indirectly, as by a blow to the head or a fall; by traffic accidents, sports injuries, or violence. The consequences depend on the amount of damage the cord sustains and where the damage occurs. Although spinal injuries are only a small fraction of all injuries; accidents cause an estimated 10,000 spinal cord injuries each year. Each year, more than two million Americans suffer a

As Mrs B has diminished mobility we have to make sure she gets enough exercise and movement so she doesn’t get stiff, so it’s important that she goes for small assisted walks in the ward. Mrs B has a healthy appetite and likes to choose her own meals.

Spinal cord injury is a sudden and devastating event for patients. The injury can be extremely debilitating and it may require a significant alteration in lifestyle post injury. P.R. has sustained a relatively high level (C6) spinal cord injury, which makes him very limited functional capacity. He will go through grieving process followed by anger for the loss of function and independence. This may be especially difficult for P.R. because he is a young man in his thirties who sustained a debilitating injury in a foreign country without any support from family and friends. Spinal cord injury has left P.R. unable to move his entire lower extremities and trunk muscles. He is unable to do the most basic activities, such as feeding and bowel movement without the help of a caregiver. For a young man who was active and completely independent, it is very difficult to accept this reality. It should also be noted that most of the nursing staff are females, which further damages his male ego for having total dependence.

“We’re very diverse. The main thing we do is certainly physical therapy—acute chronic injury, rehabilitation, post-surgery, chronic pain, balance disorders—just to help people get a tune-up to make their lives better. Less pain, more function.”

Now that I have shared a brief overview of the spinal cord and some statistics about spinal cord injuries, we will look at the past research that has led to the treatments most commonly used today. In 1990, a steroid called dexamethasone was discovered in human trials to preserve some motor and sensory function if administered at high doses within 8 hours of injury. Surgery used to remove fluid, tissue, or bone fragments, or to stabilize fractured vertebrae by fusing bones or inserting hardware has also proven to be one of the most thorough measures to prevent further harm. I received both of these treatments after my accident, and they are the same that have been used for the past decade. Until recently, doctors had no way of limiting such disabilities, aside from stabilizing the cord to prevent added destruction, treating infections, and prescribing rehabilitative therapy to maximize any remaining capabilities.

A Spinal Cord Injury is damage to any part of the Spinal Cord nerves at the end of the Spinal Canal. Every Year, 17,000 Spinal Cord Injuries are reported in the USA alone. The Most Frequent age for Spinal Cord Injuries is 19. Almost 200 Spinal Cord Injuries were reported for High School Football. People who suffer from SCI (Spinal Cord injuries) can experience muscle weakness, poor coordination, and overactive reflexes.There is many

Whereas a person that has had a stroke or some traumatic injury such as spinal cord trauma and paralysis they may spend the rest of their lives in a facility due to not being able to do simple activities of daily living(ADL’s) like feeding themselves. These individuals can be cared for at home but it does take a toll on a family if they aren’t committed to that patients care. Children can even be in a facility because the parents can’t give the proper care for them at home. The residents in these facilities do get to experience some independence but there are always some professionals nearby for

In the words of Field (2007), "physical therapists develop therapies and exercise modalities to help patients ease pain, recover from injuries or illness, or regain use of body parts." The relevance of physical therapy as a health care profession cannot hence be overstated. This is more so the case given that due to injuries, accidents, old age or disabilities; individuals could at some point need intervention designed to alleviate pain, improve mobility or even restore function.

First off, my immediate goal and underlying themes I wish to emanate every day is to put smiles on peoples’ faces. I firmly believe that every person has the right to be happy and being able to rid those with afflictions will make life worth living. Through evaluating all of the shadowing I’ve been able to partake in and the classes I’ve had the privilege of taking, I’ve developed an idea of what the pinnacle would be for me as an Occupational Therapist. I desire to work with those afflicted by strokes or spinal injury. Paralysis and brain injury are two very intriguing matters that can surprisingly be combated and overcome with diligent and adequate work. This ideal has been in my head since I was first exposed to my grandmother’s recovery process from her stroke. Additionally, my other grandmother has also done some work with Occupational Therapists of late. She suffers from Trigeminal Neuralgia which has impaired her in many ways, in fact she has even had to recover from a stroke. Once again I was able to witness the changes in mood and function in a loved one who used occupational therapy after a stroke. In fact, this time I was able to see the impact of occupational therapy on the effects of Trigeminal Neuralgia as well which heightened my interest in the profession and reconfirmed my desire to become an Occupational Therapist and

Spine injuries hurt a lot for example your spine can pop outback this up. 2-100,000 get spine injuries.

The central nervous system is what connects the brain to the muscles of the body. When a patient has an injury to the spinal cord, movements in certain parts of the body will be affected based on the location of the injury. If the injury affects hand motion then many day to day tasks are affected. This literature review seeks to understand how an injury to the spinal cord impacts movement, and what has been done so far to help those affected by spinal cord injuries.

A paralysis research guide and updated clinical trials are available. The website offers scholarly articles which contain information on observations and experimentations related to spinal cord injuries. One article that showed how research can benefit patients is Four Paraplegic Men Voluntarily Move Their Legs by Claudia Angeli, Ph.D., senior researcher at Human Locomotor Research Center at Frazier Rehab Institute. The article discussed how four individuals with spinal cord injuries, were implanted with epidural stimulators. The participants were monitored over a three year period. Results were achieved through continual direct epidural electrical stimulation of the participants' lower spinal cord, mimicking signals the brain normally transmits to initiate movement (Angeli, 2014, para. 5). All the participants were able to stand independently, had an increase in muscle mass and regulation of blood pressure at the end of the research period. Empirical evidence was used by observation and inference. The data was recorded and analyzed, leading to a significant breakthrough in the treatment of paralysis and spinal cord injuries. The second article that showed empirical evidence was The Real Brain Drain: Unmet Neuro Therapies by Martin Schwab, Ph. D. The article discussed drug companies and their reluctance to pursue drugs for neurological disorders. Drug companies have

Spinal cord injury is a serious problem that effects close to 250,000 people in the United States with 10,000 people being injured per year . There are many things that can lead to spinal cord injury, including athletic injuries, car accidents, and recreational activities like swimming and biking. It primarily effects those between the ages of 16 and 30 and drastically effects the rest of their lives. It is a very debilitating injury that requires extensive medical care, often leaves the patients in a great deal of pain for the rest of their lives(2), and the treatment of which costs $10 billion dollars a year in the US.(facts from site 1) With all of these factors spurring research on there is a strong drive to

According to Vickery (2001) however, the spinal board is considered to be the gold standard for spinal immobilisation during the pre-hospital phase of trauma management. For some patients, effective spinal immobilisation is beneficial and can also be vital in preventing the devastating effects of cord damage however it has been suggested that for many the excessive use of this preventative measure may not be prudent or necessary. It has been estimated that over 50% of trauma patients with no complaint of neck or back pain were transported with full spinal immobilisation (McHugh & Taylor 1998). Inappropriate spinal immobilisation may lead to patients experiencing unnecessary pain, skin ulceration, aspiration and respiratory compromise, which in turn may lead to further unnecessary procedures, a longer hospital stay which then incurs increasing costs to the National Health Service (Kwan, Bunn & Roberts, 2001). Shooman & Rushambuza (2009) report that immobilisation is a crucial part of the management of a trauma patient. They believe that if the mechanism of injury is uncertain, the patient should remain immobilised until further imaging even if there are no symptoms of spinal instability after log rolling. However, in a recent study by Pandie, Shepherd & Lamont (2010) they concluded that on its own, standard

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario is a charity devoted to helping people living with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities. They run many events every month to help fundraise money so that SCI can offer free programs such as peer support and enhancing independence to assist people living with a spinal cord injury’s. However, after attending SCI’s annual London Roll & Bowl event we felt as if there was a lack of advertising and event awareness. We noticed that there was little to no advertising about SCI at the event and there was nothing posted about the Roll & Bowl event on their Facebook or Twitter page and that many of the participants at the event have been attending for many years. As a result of low advertising we feel as if SCI