7 replies to this topic

[chrissyk4]

how can people be sure weather they are complete or not when they are told they are complete but get slight feeling in patches below there level are these just phantom feelings

[andycm]

Do the feelings relate to anything happening in the visible world? If you prod it, can you feel it? If so, and it's below your injury line, then it's incomplete (I reckon). Phantom feelings are common, I regularly get pain below my level of sensation, or feel cold there, etc., but can never relate those feelings to anything that can be otherwise observed.

[chrissyk4]

sometimes if i poke it its a numb feeling but can feel the numbness its not like when i poke my leg and feel nothing if you get what i mean

[Edinburgh Colin]

to keep it simple I thought if you sensation in your anus then you were incomplete, i.e. if you can feel anything while doing the bowel routine.

I'm sure if you go to the front of this site, i.e. click Spinal Cord Injury up in the page header then you will find a better definition put there by Simon based on more scientific fact than just a finger up your ass.

[Simba]

If the 'feeling' can be distinguished from phantom pain/heat/cold sensation then you are probably incomplete as any presence (however small of movement/sensation) means there is still some function below the level of injury. Therefore very few people are actually complete SCI's. There is a lot of confusion around this classification system. Complete is usually also a complete severing of the spinal cord or not? This is what I can gather from reading around anyway, feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.

My husband is incomplete he has no sensation below the level of injury but has movement in his arms & thumb & forefinger grip. According to the classification on here tho people assume he must be complete due to not having the feeling/control in his anus - is this oversimplification to assume complete or imcomplete on this basis - it is a very complicated subject matter and one which your medical specialists/doctors dealing with your disability in particular have probably got a lot more insight to.

Not knocking the guidelines on here but as holds true with most things people don't tend to fall into baskets, more things need to be considered.

[tarryn]

as it was earlier said, there are very few people who are complete. This is usually when there is a complete sever of the SCI. Any movement or sensation below the level of injury indicate that it is incomplete. Due to the nature of the spinal cord, there can be patches of movement or sensation that are in odd places. Having an incomplete injury does not necessarily mean that there will be a functional change, but then again, an incomplete injury for many people could mean the difference between can and cant on a specific task.
Feel free to keep asking questions!
T

[goose]

i was told i was c4 complete and c5 incomplete. that didn't make any sense to me.
since my accident, i can wiggle my toes on both sides, feel sensation in right leg but not left, and i can feel when i need to do my bowel program. my body is crazy. i quit trying to label myself a long time ago. i just keep trying to move things.
after 24 yrs. i'm still feeling stronger and still working on balance.

try not to get stuck on labels.

[greybeard]

Does it matter? Labels only tend to confuse. Whether or not you are you getting the right treatment and support is the area that should really concern you.