The human spine is such a fragile thing. It can only take so much blunt force before it is damaged and renders a person unable to walk or move without crushing pain. Yet, in the same breath, the spine was designed to take shock and distribute each shock such that you barely feel it each time it happens. The disks in the spine cushion each vertebra and prevent pain signals from transferring to the nerves in your back each time you run, walk, jog, or swing your upper torso. So, what happens when your spine is injured, needs corrective approaches, and requires rehabilitation? It looks something like this.

A Crush Injury

If you are exceedingly lucky, a crush injury to the spine will result in fractured vertebrae, disks forced out of place, extreme pain, and a lot of swelling that may only render you temporarily paralyzed. More severe crush injuries permanently severe the spinal cord and nerves. Rehabilitation for minor crush injuries will allow you to slowly regain mobility, while rehabilitation for major crush injuries will ensure that blood flow to your body does not stop and cause necrosis of tissues. If minor surgery can help, it will be offered as part of your treatment plan. 

Stabbing or Bullet Wound

Stabs or bullet wounds to the back can create dangerous situations for your spine. The decision to remove a foreign object (i.e., a bullet) from close to your spinal cord is never an easy one. The choice is always met with the risks of complete paralyzation versus restoration of your ability to move. A stabbing can sever nerves and your spinal cord, but it requires extreme force and knowledge of human anatomy in order to drive a knife blade through the spongey disks in your back.

In either situation, your doctor will have to look at what can be done for you and how they can give you the best quality of life with the options available. If it is possible to restore mobility after the removal of a bullet or surgical repair of your back after a stabbing, the doctor will make every attempt. Then you will have to go through months of physical therapy and bioelectrical stimulation of the nerves in the injured part of your back before you can move entirely on your own again. Some nerves may regenerate if you are really young, but that is not always the case, and you have to work on your spinal rehabilitation plan in a spinal rehabilitation center before you will see improvement. 

Contact a local spine rehabilitation center to learn more about treatment options.