Cervical Spinal Cord Injury – Causes

Transcript

While the most common cause of cervical spinal cord injury is trauma and the most common cause of this being motor vehicle accident, there are also a number of other causes of spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury can result from infection that develops in the epidural space of the spine. An abscess in that area can compress the spinal cord resulting in paralysis. There are other spontaneous sources of paralysis, such as transverse myelitis. This is an inflammation that develops within the cervical spinal cord that can also result in paralysis. Typically these will resolve with time, but oftentimes they do not completely resolve. Multiple sclerosis can cause a condition that looks very much like a spinal cord injury. Tumors within the spinal canal can also compress the spinal cord, resulting in a spinal cord injury. A very large percentage of severe cervical spinal cord injuries come from careless activities. Diving into shallow pools, falls, risk taking behaviors. Simply being cautious and aware of the potential risks can really decrease the potential for spinal cord injury, and taking simple precautions to avoid falls and avoid trauma.