Symptoms

Your ability to control your limbs after a spinal cord injury depends on two factors: where the injury occurred on your spinal cord and the severity of injury.

The lowest part of your spinal cord that remains undamaged after an injury is referred to as the neurological level of your injury. The severity of the injury is often called "the completeness" and is classified as either of the following:

• Complete. If all feeling (sensory) and all ability to control movement (motor function) are lost below the spinal cord injury, your injury is called complete.
• Incomplete. If you have some motor or sensory function below the affected area, your injury is called incomplete. There are varying degrees of incomplete injury.

Additionally, paralysis from a spinal cord injury can be referred to as:

• Tetraplegia. Also known as quadriplegia, this means that your arms, hands, trunk, legs and pelvic organs are all affected by your spinal cord injury.
• Paraplegia. This paralysis affects all or part of the trunk, legs and pelvic organs.

Your health care team will perform a series of tests to determine the neurological level and completeness of your injury.

Spinal cord injuries can cause one or more of the following signs and symptoms:

• Loss of movement
• Loss of or altered sensation, including the ability to feel heat, cold and touch
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Exaggerated reflex activities or spasms
• Changes in sexual function, sexual sensitivity and fertility
• Pain or an intense stinging sensation caused by damage to the nerve fibers in your spinal cord
• Difficulty breathing, coughing or clearing secretions from your lungs

Emergency signs and symptoms

Emergency signs and symptoms of a spinal cord injury after an accident include:

• Extreme back pain or pressure in your neck, head or back
• Weakness, incoordination or paralysis in any part of your body
• Numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in your hands, fingers, feet or toes
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Difficulty with balance and walking
• Impaired breathing after injury
• An oddly positioned or twisted neck or back

When to see a doctor

Anyone who has significant trauma to the head or neck needs immediate medical evaluation for a spinal injury. In fact, it's safest to assume that trauma victims have a spinal injury until proved otherwise because:

• A serious spinal injury isn't always immediately obvious. If it isn't known, a more severe injury may occur.
• Numbness or paralysis can be immediate or come on gradually.
• The time between injury and treatment can be critical in determining the extent and severity of complications and the possible extent of expected recovery.

If you suspect that someone has a back or neck injury:

• Don't move the injured person — permanent paralysis and other serious complications can result
• Call 911 or your local emergency medical assistance number
• Keep the person still
• Place heavy towels on both sides of the neck or hold the head and neck to prevent them from moving until emergency care arrives
• Provide basic first aid, such as stopping bleeding and making the person comfortable, without moving the head or neck