“Cervical spinal cord injuries?”
An 80 year old man that I know had a fall, broke his neck, and injured his cervical spinal cord. 20 minutes after his fall, he managed to walk with a cervical spinal cord injury over a distance of about 25 metres from his garden, including down some small garden steps and down a sloping drive, with someone giving him some assistance in helping him to walk. What I want to know is because he could walk with a cervical spinal cord injury was it the case that his cervical spinal cord injury was not life-threatening at that time before he walked?
Male | 80 years old
Complaint duration: 3 days
1 Answer
Spinal injuries can be tricky. Depending on the injury, it can be possible to function completely normally, sometimes even for years, until you move the wrong way and trigger symptoms. Some injuries also do not become symptomatic until a few hours to a few days later when inflammation and swelling set in. That is why it is always important to have a spinal injury checked out by a qualified medical provider, even if the injured person seems to look, feel, and function normally.
