Almost any activity can lead to a spinal cord injury. Most spinal cord injuries are a result of automobile accidents, falls and sports injuries. It's possible to prevent many spinal cord injuries by following safety precautions and using common...
Spinal cord injuries, or SCIs, are traumatic injuries that trigger temporary or permanent damage to the main nerve pathway between your brain and body. Involvement in organized sports is a known underlying factor in a significant number of these...
A spinal cord injury is a direct injury to the spinal cord or damage to the bones, tissues or blood vessels that affect the spinal cord. According to Medline Plus, risk factors include participation in dangerous or strenuous physical activities,...
Spinal cord injuries are becoming more and more common. In fact, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation estimates that there are more than one million people living with some type of spinal cord injury in 2010. A spinal cord injury that causes...
Fractures of the lumbar spine, five vertebrae found at the lower end of the back, can have serious long-term consequences. The vertebrae surround and protect the spinal cord, so damage to the vertebrae can also damage the spinal cord. Fractures of...
Spinal cord injuries can happen to anyone, causing a variety of physical impairments. Little can be done to remedy spinal nerve damage. However, alternative remedies such as ginkgo biloba are gaining attention for their potential role in spinal...
According to the National MS Society, MS, or multiple sclerosis, is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. In MS, the body’s immune system attacks myelin, which is the fatty substance around...
A seizure often includes muscle cramping and other involuntary body movements. Medically, a seizure originates in the brain. Neurotransmitters needed to communicate messages across neural pathways in your brain become disrupted prior to a seizure....
Neck surgery may be necessary if a patient experienced trauma or has another serious medical problem, such as severe osteoarthritis, narrow blood vessels or thyroid problems. Neck surgery is concerning because there are many delicate structures in...
A laminotomy is a procedure sometimes used to treat a herniated disc in the spine. The intervertebral discs are small, cylindrical discs in between each vertebra of the spine that serve as shock absorbers for the spine. A herniated disc results...
Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease caused by damage to neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The damage occurs to the outer layer of the neurons, which is called the myelin sheath. The exact cause is not fully understood, but...
When the spinal cord is damaged, sensation and movement are often impaired or lost below the level of injury. While there is no cure for spinal cord injuries, research into spinal cord regeneration is ongoing. One of the possible treatments under...
A spinal cord injury can happen to just about anyone, though most occur in young men. According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), approximately 25 percent of Americans are currently living with some form of...
Low back pain is a condition that affects most people at some point in life. The middle back is composed of backbones, or vertebrae, muscles, ligaments, tendons, the spinal cord and spinal nerves. The acute exacerbation of any of these anatomical...
Few body parts bear such consistent daily punishment as the humble foot. This pedestrian appendage carries the weight of the human body day after day, mile upon mile. When nerve damage affects the foot, it can hamper mobility by causing pain and...
A spinal cord injury typically refers to a fracture or dislocation of the spinal cord vertebrae as a result of a sudden, traumatic blow. This damage, depending upon the state of its severity, may impair the use of the body, especially the torso,...
MS, or multiple sclerosis, is a disease in which the body's immune systems attacks myelin, or the covering of the nerves in the brain or spinal cord or both. Damage to the covering affects the signal passing through the nerve. MS is most common in...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States, based upon estimates provided by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Symptoms of MS...
When the spinal cord is damaged, many problems can result, including movement and sensation impairments below the level of injury. People with spinal cord damage are more prone to medical issues than the average person, including pressure sores...
According to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, there are about 5.6 million people in the United States with a spinal cord injury. When the spinal cord is damaged, the patient undergoes profound physical and psychological changes. These...
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, and results in increased pressure on the spinal cord in the segment affected. It is classified based on the anatomical area affected (cervical, lumbar or thoracic), and most commonly is caused by...
If you have experienced a spinal cord injury, you may benefit from exercises and therapies suggested by your doctor and a physical therapist. Injuries to the spine may cause pain along with reduced function, range-of-motion, flexibility and...
Peripheral neuropathy describes damage to the peripheral nervous system, or the system that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body. Peripheral nerves send sensory information back to the brain and...
The RAND Interstitial Cystitis Epidemiology report estimates that 3 to 8 million women and 1 to 4 million men struggle with a painful bladder disorder called interstitial cystitis, or IC. In addition to bladder pain that is relieved upon...
Duloxetine is a drug made by the Eli Lily company. It is sold under the trade name of Cymbalta. According to a summary published in the journal "Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics," duloxetine may be useful in several medical conditions. These...
Erectile dysfunction, also known as "impotence," is a condition where you are unable to maintain an erection long enough to complete a sexual experience. This can take place from both physical and psychological factors. Arteriosclerosis is an...
Vitamin B-12 helps maintain the health of your metabolism, red blood cells and nerves. When you have a vitamin B-12 deficiency, your doctor might prescribe vitamin B-12 shots, especially if you have an intestinal disorder that prevents the proper...
A diagnosis of spinal cord injury, including paraplegia and quadriplegia, often brings to mind an image of a person in a wheelchair. However, a spinal cord injury does not necessarily keep a person from walking. In fact, many people with spinal...
Cardio exercise provides well-documented health benefits to those who invest the time and energy. Your benefits include greater stamina, weight loss, improved mood, enhanced immune system function and reduced risk of many serious health...
Spinal Cord Injury is a very serious injury that can be very severe depending on the injury. Two well known forms of this injury are quadriplegia and paraplegia in which either the legs or all limbs are rendered useless. Learn more about this...
