Total Community Care Blog

How Can a Spinal Cord Injury Affect Your Bones?

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is an injury which affects the spinal cord – whether acute and traumatic or the result of degenerative disease. The spinal cord is housed within a canal running through the vertebrae, the bones of the spinal column.…
Aged Man With Physical Disability Cleaning Hands In Sink

Ageing with Spinal Cord Injury

Improvements in health and social care mean that people are living longer than ever before. This is especially true for people with spinal cord injuries (SCI), as advances in medicine and medical technology mean that conditions which would previously…
imaging of spinal stenosis

What is Spinal Stenosis?

The spinal cord – the bundle of nerves that extends down from the brain and branches off to supply nerve function to every part of the body – runs through a canal in the middle of the spine. Each vertebra – bone of the spine – has a…
spinal cord seizures

What Are Spinal Cord Seizures?

Epilepsy is the most common cause of seizures; it is a condition where sudden ‘storms’ of electrical activity in the brain have an impact on the body. Seizures can also have other causes, however, and can be triggered by several of the conditions…

Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis

Paralysis as a symptom of spinal cord injury (SCI) specifically refers to lack of motor control causing reduced ability to move one’s body – this is, of course, inextricably linked to sensation and an injury to the spinal cord that severs…
Central Organ Of Human Nervous System Brain Anatomy

Nerves – What They Are and What They Do

The nervous system comprises two main parts: the central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, made up of all the nerves that branch off from the spinal cord.[i] Nerves are long string-like…
c6 neck fracture

Cervical Spinal Cord Injury and Respiratory Function

High spinal cord injuries (SCI) can have a profound impact on respiratory function, leaving people vulnerable to breathing problems and recurrent chest infections and pneumonia. Some people with high SCI are dependent on mechanical ventilation…

Bowel Management After a Spinal Cord Injury

Bowel management, particularly addressing challenges like constipation and incontinence, is one of the most important considerations after a spinal cord injury (SCI). The primary and secondary consequences of bowel problems can be profound and…

What is a Neck Fracture, and Can You Recover?

A neck fracture can be one of the most serious and debilitating injuries a person can suffer, but what does it mean to fracture or break your neck, and what are the symptoms, treatment, and prognosis? All about the neck To understand how…

Tracheostomy Care at Home

What is a Tracheostomy? A tracheostomy is a surgical opening made into the trachea (windpipe) through the skin at the front of the neck. The procedure for creating the opening is a tracheotomy, the opening itself is a tracheostomy. Tracheostomies…

Spinal Injury without Radiographic Abnormalities

Sometimes, traditional imaging with x-ray or CT scan does not find a clear physical cause for the spinal cord injury symptoms the patient is experiencing – no injuries to the vertebrae or other obvious physical damage around the spine.…

Motor Neurone Disease

Motor Neurone Disease is a chronic, degenerative condition which affects the nerve cells that control movement. What is Motor Neurone Disease Motor Neurones are the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are responsible for movement…