Facts You Might Not Know About Spinal Cord Injuries

People with SCI can’t sweat

The spinal cord may be the organ that helps the body feel and move, but it also operates your sweat. Becoming hotter and hotter is what some people with higher spinal cord injuries have to go through until they finally cool off their body from the outside, either by dumping cold water on their skin or basking in the AC. Paraplegics however can usually sweat. Not being able to sweat applies generally to quads.

82% are men

Out of everyone on the planet with a spinal cord injury, 82% are male. That’s quite the disparity between men vs. women and most think feel it’s because men are bigger risk-takers than women. It’s hard to argue with that. Motor vehicle crashes, sports injuries, falls, men find themselves in these situations a lot more often.

Before the 1940s, the life expectancy was two years

There may not be a cure for spinal injuries yet, but scientists have come a long way in improving long-term prospects for people with spinal cord injuries. Prospects before the 1940s were not good. It was before antibiotic use began to be widespread, which mean most died before the two year mark from slow deaths related to untreatable infections; bladder, blood and skin. Paralyzed WWII veterans are some of the first people in human history to move onto full lives post-injury.

Less sensation, less body hair

One of the few bonuses of having a spinal cord injury (if you could call it that) is less body hair. Researchers have recently discovered that body hair grows better when it’s getting feedback from the brain. They’re not sure why, but it’s a phenomenon that’s been observed in most people with a spinal cord injury.

Some people can’t cough

Some people who are quadriplegic may be able to emit a tiny cough, but that’s about as fierce of a cough most of us can do. Reason why – spinal cord injuries don’t just effect the legs and arms, they can affect the chest wall muscles; everything becomes paralyzed below the level of injury. This is why respiratory failure remains the number one cause of death among people with higher spinal cord injuries. Coughing up phlegm is critical when fighting off colds, but the good news – cough-assist devices and techniques like these.

They pee through their belly buttons

Everyone thinks they know the going-to-the-bathroom secret (catheters). But there’s one big secret mainstream society has no idea is possible—a surgery that allows you to pee through the belly button. That’s right, a hole is put in the belly button, with a new urinary conduit to boot. All you need to do is insert in a catheter, put a drainage cup between your legs, and you’re good to go. Doctor Mitrofanoff invented this fascinating surgery.

Their legs can still move

Mainstream society thinks paralysis equates to the legs being absolutely frozen in time—but this is not the case. Some people’s paralyzed legs can move and shake a lot on their own; anything causing pain below the level of injury can cause it. Lower level paraplegics however rarely get spasms.