What we have found in many years of working with spinal cord injured persons using FES Cycling, is that some clients are impatient to see their legs working hard from day one. They are disappointed when their muscles seem to fatigue so quickly when they start training for the first time. To understand why this is the case, we need to look at how muscles behave when contracting with the aid of electrical stimulation. We should also understand how a spinal cord injury produces changes in a person's muscular, skeletal and neural structures.

Experiencing a spinal cord injury (SCI) can be life-altering and poses significant challenges in everyday life. However, with comprehensive rehabilitation and the right support, restoring some functionality, independence, and an enhanced quality of life is not just a dream, but a realistic goal.

This article shines a light on the journey of SCI rehabilitation, highlighting the array of specialised strategies and programs that are designed to cater to the unique needs of each. It discusses the limitations of state healthcare and alternative resources, such as private therapists and rehabilitation facilities, while also highlighting the importance of early personal injury legal advice in negligence cases. The piece underscores the impact of rehabilitation on physical and psychological well-being and advocates for a multidisciplinary treatment approach.

A spinal cord injury can be a life-changing event that no one is ever prepared for. Medical science has learned a great deal about how to treat the short-term consequences of a spinal cord injury. In the longer term, the imperative is to recover whatever function can be recovered through focusing on rehabilitation. Assistive technology can help to compensate for function that cannot be recovered. By preventing complications and striving for health, individuals can expect to enjoy good quality and length of life.

The mindset, attitudes and beliefs of the injured person and those around them will have a great impact on their potential for recovery, but there are limits to how far ‘belief’ will take them. Just believing that something is possible is not enough to make it so. We live in an age when technology, therapy and medical science can help individuals recover more function or at least remain healthier than would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Whilst there is no cure yet for spinal cord injury, this no longer seems an impossible dream.

Every spinal cord-injured person faces a different challenge as they essentially have injuries with somewhat different characteristics. To deal with this, medical science has sought to find a way to classify spinal cord injuries in a way that helps to guide treatment, and to some extent, define the expectations for recovery. This article examines how spinal cord injuries are classified.

Welcome to our latest exploration in the captivating realm of neurorehabilitation. Today, we venture into the innovative field of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) - a groundbreaking approach that has been making waves in recent years. Like Functional Electrical Stimulation, Neurofeedback and biofeedback, tSCS is within the general category of applications being referred to as neuromodulation.

Essentially, tSCS is a non-invasive method that involves sending small electrical currents transcutaneously to stimulate the spinal cord. Research has been underway to utilise tSCS in rehabilitating individuals with spinal cord injuries, opening new doors to hope and recovery.

By the end of this blog post, we aim to enlighten you about the science behind tSCS, and the potential it holds for improving the quality of life in spinal cord injury survivors

In the first article in this series, we described how the lifespan of our general population increased on average as we moved through the first half of the 20th century. This was largely due to improved public health measures and the arrival of antibiotics. At present, we no longer see lifespan increasing and what is worse, many of us spend the last years of life in poor health and subject to chronic conditions that are associated with ageing. These conditions are:-

Heart disease

Cancer

Neurodegenerative disease

Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction

These conditions are highly correlated with age and approximately 80% of the population will succumb to them. To some extent, they may have common causes that we would need to dig deep to uncover. In particular, metabolic dysfunction seems to be a precursor to all these other diseases.

Welcome to the first of a series of articles that will tackle the topic of improving life expectancy after a spinal cord injury. The goal of these articles is to provide valuable information on how to not just live longer, but healthier. We all want to age "gracefully", and that's why we need to start thinking about healthspan rather than just lifespan. Research suggests that the life expectancy of persons following a traumatic spinal cord injury has been improving since the 1950's but remains shorter compared with the general population. We will discuss why the length of life is not the only thing that counts.

In this first article, we will discuss the importance of healthspan and what we can do to achieve it. Living longer is great, but what's even better is having the physical ability to perform daily activities and participate fully in the life we want. Subsequent articles will delve into how spinal cord injuries affect lifespan and provide insights on creating a plan to live healthier.

So, let's take charge of our health and work towards enjoying a fulfilling life. Let's start by looking at the population at large and introduce the concepts of lifespan and "healthspan" and see why we don't want to have a long life unless it is also a healthy life.