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Q: My brother was recently injured in a diving accident and he's been told that he has incomplete C6/7 spinal cord injury. What does that mean?

A: A spinal cord injury (SCI) is described according to its location and whether the damage to the cord is through the entire width or only part of it. So "incomplete C6/7" means that the cord is damaged between the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae, and the nerves in the cord have not been completely severed.

C6/7 is in the cervical section of the spine. Injury there results in quadriplegia, meaning that all four limbs will have some type of paralysis. Spinal cord damage at C6/7 should still enable good functionality of the arms but would usually affect fine finger movement.

However the functional effects of an incomplete injury can be anything from much the same as a complete injury at that level down to no lasting impairment at all, or anything in between. Because the swelling that occurs in the cord at the time of injury settles during the next 6–8 weeks, the extent of neurological damage is not immediately fully known.

In 2005/6 out of 284 people in Australia who sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury, only 11 had no lasting neurological damage.

The American Paralyzed Veterans Association has a set of guides describing outcomes of various levels of SCI. Each provides individual guidance on what people with different levels of SCI can reasonably expect to do one year after injury; what help will be needed with daily life tasks at home, at work, and in the community; and what equipment can help make a person with SCI more independent. You will find them @ www.pva.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8093.

just like to add that i totally agree with yakboy. I'm an incomplete c6/7, going on 8 years. In rehab hospital I was told that I had little chance of walking or of even holding a pen. Now can walk a little, no more running and rock climbing for me but I have few problems with everyday tasks, so perseverance can pay off,give it a go..

Posted by: lee on 04 Dec 2009 10:45pm

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Hi, I'm C6/7 incomplete. 20 years ago mind you. Lived in the UK and have just emigrated for the weather!!. I see it that everyone is individual, each injury although it may be the same bones/area of the spine, but each one is unique therefore I think it is a bit harsh saying that a C6/7 incomplete will be able to do A,B,C, after so many months... it just doesn't wash. A very junior house doctor told my parents hours after my accident, that I was a veggie from the neck down, now if I could have got up and knocked his lights out I would have done, years later I was never able to find him... just to point out how wrong he was :-) In the year BA (before accident) I was in the armed forces, could run the legs off anyone, did cross country running for my unit and had started training for triathlon, hoping to qualify for hawwii, then in the year AA (after accident) I was totally dead from the neck down for 1 1/2 months, given a 1% chance of ever moving anything again..... But the power of the mind is the key to an SI recovery, please excuse this completes, I respect your circumstances fully. Once you have accepted what you have become, the brain will start sorting out the recovery aspect. Determination, grit, totally stubborn attitude are welcome here, because this is where it puts us apart from able bodied who will never "feel" what we do. Thats not a dig at able bodied you understand, thats not who I am, but trying to get the point across is that we are all different. Go with what you got.... Don't let anyone say you can't, find out for yourself, as long as its not dangerous or life threatening !! Keep trying !! We all have our down moments, its when we decide to get back up that counts...

Posted by: Yakboy on 24 Jun 2009 7:44pm

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