Not Just the Spine: How SCI Affects Your Body’s Organs
Suffering a spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-changing event that impacts your body in many ways. Injury location is the most important predictor of the effects of SCI — the higher the injury on the body, the more severe the debilitation. Injuries as high as the neck often lead to tetraplegia or paralysis of the upper and lower body. Incomplete spinal cord injuries can leave some function below the injury level while complete injuries are typically characterized by no motor function at all below the level of injury. Each individual’s experience is different, and prognoses and symptom sets are unpredictable. However, some effects are commonly seen in the body’s organs following an SCI. Read on to learn how SCI affects your body’s organs.
How SCI Affect’s Your Body’s Organs
When you have experienced an SCI, you first temporarily and unavoidably lose your spinal cord reflexes, called spinal shock, below where the injury occurred, which lasts days or even weeks. Once the spinal shock abates, spasticity or stiffness sets in.
Cardiovascular System
Heart
SCI puts you at risk of neurogenic shock, the combination of low heart rate and blood pressure. Neurogenic shock happens when signals from the brain to the spinal cord are disrupted, leading to abnormal heart rate and blood pressure. Raising a bed too quickly can cause blood pressure to drop because the dilated blood vessels below the injury level cannot constrict fast enough. Low blood pressure, called orthostatic hypotension, results. Using an abdominal binder and slowly raising the head of your bed can help prevent this.
Another SCI risk is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot that can form in the arms or legs. If untreated, DVTs can be serious and even fatal, but elastic stockings, compression devices, or foot pumps in addition to blood thinners, blood vessel filters, regular exercise, and turning can prevent them.
Digestive System
Stomach
Sometimes, SCI causes the stomach and intestines to malfunction for a short time, called an ileus. During this period, the stomach still produces acid that can damage the stomach lining and lead to ulcers. In this case, a nasogastric (NG) tube can be used to remove these acids, or medicine can be given to prevent ulcers. An NG tube is also used if a cervical SCI makes swallowing difficult or impossible. If feeding assistance is needed long-term, a gastric tube can be implanted surgically into the stomach through the abdominals.
Bowels
Bowel issues are common following an SCI and lead to the following complications.
- Difficulty moving waste through the colon or large intestine.
- Involuntary stool passing or difficulty passing stools.
- Abdominal pain.
- Feeling full too soon when eating or drinking.
- Depression or anxiety from lack of bowel control.
These issues can be helped with a bowel program that integrates timing, diet, medicine, and techniques such as digital stimulation. A successful bowel program takes time but is worth it for regaining control.
Integumentary System
Skin
One of the biggest risks for people with SCI is the development of pressure sores resulting from too much heat, moisture, and a lack of sufficient blood flow and oxygen. These sores can become infected, which is painful, costly, challenging to treat, and can even lead to death if left untreated. Regular turning, thorough cleaning, and continual repositioning can help prevent these.
Muscular System
Muscles
Muscle spasticity is common following SCI when the signals traveling between the brain and muscles are disrupted. Spasticity can be painful and cause the muscles and tendons to shorten.
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy helps prevent spastic muscles and can even re-educate the muscles to move. In addition to this benefit, FES offers the following advantages.
- Strengthens muscles
- Improves cardiovascular health
- Improves joint range of motion
- Increases muscle mass
- Improves fitness
- Increases local blood circulation
Nervous System
Brain
Many people who have experienced SCI also experience a brain injury, ranging from mild concussions to severe damage. Brain injuries can cause memory difficulty, issues with concentration, impaired communication, or even personality alterations.
Reproductive System
Love and intimacy are fundamental parts of human existence, and a person who has experienced an SCI may still have sexual needs. Depending on the injury, there may be sensation loss in men and women, but often they will still be able to engage in sexual intercourse and reproduce.
Depending on the level of function that remains, men may still be able to have erections and ejaculate. Similarly, women can continue sexual activities but may experience other difficulties, such as vaginal dryness. Depending on your unique situation, your doctor can recommend the best course of treatment for you to still enjoy intimacy with your partner following an SCI.
Respiratory System
SCI weakens the respiratory system muscles you need for coughing and breathing, specifically the diaphragm, intercostals, and abdominals. This makes you unable to fully release lung secretions, which puts you at higher risk for respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
Exactly how these muscles are affected depends on the injury level. Injuries at C4 and higher affect the diaphragm, while T1 to T11 injuries affect the intercostals, and injuries at T7 to T12 affect the abdominals. Cervical SCIs, meaning the injury occurred in the neck, may necessitate ventilation support for breathing, which can be short or long-term.
Urinary System
Bladder
Lastly, disruptions to the nerve of your bladder are another way how SCI affects your body’s organs. An SCI can disrupt the messages between your brain and bladder. Bladder nerves let the brain know when the bladder is full, indicating the need to urinate. SCI causes these messages to be lost. All people with SCI experience a loss of bladder tone when they are first injured due to spinal shock. A urinary catheter will be used to drain the bladder, which will be removed if and when the bladder tone returns. Some people with SCI never return to full bladder tone. This may be due to a weakened or hyperactive bladder, in which case a urologist will be consulted to determine what medicines or surgeries are needed.
We See All of You at MYOLYN
There is no one-size-fits-all list of how an SCI affects your body’s organs. Instead, each person who has experienced one has a unique set of symptoms and complications. But being upfront and honest about anything you are dealing with helps your medical team know how best to understand and cope with the changes to your body following SCI.
At MYOLYN, we have made it our mission to help people with paralysis move. Our MyoCycle brings the power of FES therapy to your home or clinic, making exercise accessible for anyone. When you are ready to find out what the MyoCycle can do for you or to take advantage of all the fantastic resources available through MYOLYN, request more information here.
