Paraplegia is paralysis
of the lower body and legs. There
are different classifications of spinal
cord injury, and paraplegia affects
the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral segments.
Motor vehicles, falls, sports, and
violence most often cause paraplegia.
Spinal cord injuries affect at least
7,800 people in the U.S. every year,
and this figure includes paraplegia.
Paraplegia is a permanent condition
that can greatly alter an individual's
lifestyle. In paraplegia cases where
the spinal cord nerves are severed
the physical conditions become irreversible,
but any spinal cord injury, like paraplegia
does not result in mental impairments.
There are two
types of spinal cord injuries that
result in paralysis, paraplegia and
quadriplegia that results depend on
the degree of injury or disease and
what position it occurs on the spinal
cord. Paraplegia does not have the
use of his/her legs and feet and some
lower body muscles, and the paraplegia
injury can have a significant psychological
trauma. Life expectancy for paraplegia
patients is normally 90% of what is
expected for the able bodied population.
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