What is skin tolerance?
Skin tolerance is how much time your skin can stand to be under pressure before damage starts to occur. Each person's skin tolerance is different. Some people may need to relieve pressure very often, others may not have to do it as often, but they still need ...
What do I need to know?
Ninety-five percent of all pressure sores are preventable!
After spinal cord injury, your skin requires daily care and a lot of attention.
You will need to spend time daily cleaning the skin, keeping it dry (from incontinence or perspiration), checking the skin for problems or changes, moving ...
What do I need to know?
Individuals with SCI are at high risk for developing pressure sores.
Pressure sores can be life threatening.
Possible complications:
Infections can develop and spread to the blood, heart and bone.
Amputations
Prolonged bed rest necessary for healing can keep you out of work, school and social activities for months.
Because ...
A pressure sore (also called pressure ulcer, decubitus ulcer, decubiti (plural), bedsore or skin breakdown) is an area of the skin or underlying tissue (muscle, bone) that is damaged due to loss of blood flow to the area. Blood flow to the skin keeps it alive and healthy. If the ...
What is the study about?
Survival within two years after spinal cord injury (SCI) has greatly improved over the past few decades, although long-term survival after the first two years has not shown significant improvement. However, people with SCI still have higher rates of mortality than people without SCI. To better ...
The pressure relief technique you use will depend on your level of injury, the type of wheelchair you use and how much movement and strength you have in your arms and shoulders.
Tilting or reclining
If you are unable to perform independent pressure reliefs, you can use a power tilt wheelchair for ...
This is a part of the Hot Topic podcast series from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center on Managing Bowel Function After Spinal Cord Injury. Gianna Rodriguez, MD, researcher, discusses Colostomy as a Last Resort.
Gianna Rodriguez, M.D.
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
University of Michigan
For a person with spinal ...
Our featured video and brief video clips share information about managing bowel function after sustaining a spinal cord injury. In this video, SCI Model Systems Researchers share how they helped individuals with SCI develop a bowel program.
What is the study about?
This study examined the effects of an anti-depressant on spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with significant depression. Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder that develops after SCI. Between 25% - 30% of people with SCI are diagnosed with depression. Not only is depression itself disabling, ...
This is a podcast-brief from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center. It’s not a fun topic to talk about, but everyone does it! What is it, you ask? Poop! That’s right. Bowel problems are a very real concern for most people with spinal cord injury. And ...
Bowel Function After SCI Infocomic
A spinal cord injury can lead to bowel problems. This comic talks about what you need know to control bowel movements after a spinal cord injury.
Some people with SCI may experience problems moving waste through their colon, passing a stool when they do not want to, ...
Most people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) want to work yet need support, training and vocational rehabilitation services to help them obtain and keep a job. These sources of support may help to overcome many barriers that are outside the individual’s control, such as financial and health care issues, accessibility, ...
OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to examine demographic, cognitive, emotional, and physical factors that predict return to paid employment for people after neurological injury.
METHOD. Four hundred eighty adults with stroke (n = 149), traumatic brain injury (n = 155), and spinal cord injury (n = 176) completed an occupational outcome questionnaire ...