Quadriplegic Vs. Paraplegic

Any type of injury to the spinal cord could possibly cause paralysis. The spinal cord acts as a messenger, sending messages to and from the brain. When there's a spinal cord injury, the messages are blocked at the level of the injury. Above the injury, the messages are able to travel without difficulty. For this reason, there are different types of paralysis. In this article I will differentiate these types. In order to do so, let's discuss the anatomy of the spinal cord, in simple terms.

The spinal cord is a long cord made up of nervous tissue. It starts at the brain and ends at the sacrum. It's primary function is to send and receive messages to and from the brain to control movement. The spinal cord is divided into four sections: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral.

The cervical area is in the neck. This is the top of the spinal cord. It's defined as C-1 to C-8. (C-1 is the top.)

Damage to C-1 to C-3 results in: Limited head movement, inability to breath without a ventilator, total paralysis of the body. Christopher Reeves (Superman) had this kind of injury.

Damage to C-4 results in: Total head movement, with this type of paralysis the patient can breath without ventilator assistance, but has total body paralysis.

Damage to C-5 results in: Good head and shoulder movement, able to move arms but no finger movement, able to breath without assistance, total paralysis of legs. (My father has this type of injury, he's been paralyzed for 30 years)

Damage to C-6 results in: Good head and shoulder movement, able to move arms with no finger movement, total leg paralysis.

Damage to C-7 to C-8 results in: Good head, shoulder, and arm movement, has some finger movement, but total leg paralysis.

The thoracic area is the chest. Injury to this area is defined by T-1 to T-10.

Damage to T-1 to T-4 results in: Good movement of head, shoulders, arms, and chest. This patient is bale to move fingers without difficulty but has total paralysis of legs.

Damage to T-5 to T-9 result in: Good movement of head, shoulders, arms, fingers, and chest. Total paralysis of legs.

T10 to L-1 is where the thoracic area meets the lumbar area. The lumbar is the lower back. This type of paralysis results in normal upper body strength with partial paralysis of the lower body and legs.

L-2 to S-5 is where the lumbar area meets the sacrum. The sacrum is the top of the buttock. With this type of injury, the patient has normal upper body movement. With physical therapy, walking with assistance, could be possible.

Any type of injury to the spinal cord is considered and treated seriously. Depending on how serious the injury is, paralysis is a possible outcome.