The ability to express and develop sexuality, participate in sexual activity, and maintain long term intimate relations is desired as much by those with a disability as in the general population. In fact for the majority of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) wheelchair users being 15 to 45 years of age sex often becomes of greater…

Spinal cord injury most commonly result from road trauma such as vehicle collision, overturn, unrestrained or ejected occupants and motorcycle accidents. These combined with falls from a height, cyclists, shallow diving, collapsed football scrums and other contact sport injuries warrant immediate concern of damage to the spine and spinal cord, being attributed to around 80% of all spinal cord…

Injury to the spinal cord can be caused by acute (sudden) or chronic (developing) trauma as well as medical conditions. Frequent causes of chronic compression injuries are herniated intervertebral disks and primary or secondary tumors. Compromised blood perfusion, the delivery of nutritive arterial blood to capillary bed as in anterior spinal cord syndrome can also be severely detrimental to…

Autonomic dysreflexia occurs when a strong sensory impulse is sent via the spinal cord to the brain envoking a massive sympathetic reflex. Common in people with a spinal cord injury above T6 such as quadriplegics dangerously high blood pressure levels warrant the symptoms of disreflexia be given immediate attention.

Hello, my name is Timothy Ward. On November 13th of 2008 I was in a serious motor vehicle accident which rendered me a C5 complete tetraplegic. After the accident I spent five weeks in the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia then flew home to Christchurch, New Zealand and spent seven months in the Burwood Spinal…

Caused by disruption or injury to the spinal cord between C1 and C7 quadriplegia, also known as tetraplegia in Europe, is a traumatic life changing event. I’m Graham, founder of the Mad Spaz Club. At 24 I knew little about quadriplegia, that was all about to change. Lying in a hospital bed I remember thinking of all the things I’d never…

It Was Mothers Day. I was meant to go and see Mum but we decided to go bush bashing first. My boyfriend and I were in the back of a 4 wheel drive. It was fun for a while then things got out of hand. The last thing I remember was my boyfriend yelling at the driver to slow down. I woke up in hospital a C5 paraplegic. I knew things were serious as my parents were really upset. They told me I’d never be able to walk again. I have some use of my arms and hands though need a carer to help me shower.

A Supra Pubic Catheter or Tube is commonly called Super Pubic Catheter. I’ve had an SPC for 14 years now without to many problems. There is not a lot of first hand info on the net so I will share my personal experience. An SPC is a method of bladder management. A fairly simple procedure usually performed under a…

Two Certain Things About Being a Gimp:

Each of us wonders how or why it had to happen to us.
If you haven’t experienced it, you will probably never fully understand what it’s all about.

 
For me it happened gradually and nobody connected the dots. In my 30’s I was on “the rack” to stretch my spine. The…

People with spinal cord injury living life in a wheelchair are at greater risk of skin damage like pressure sore areas due to loss of feeling and reduced sensation to parts of their body. Combined with loss of muscle function, poor circulation and often poor nutrition people with spinal cord injury often develop such pressure sores. Left unattended these can…