What are the symptoms of a spinal cord injury?

Spinal cord injuries typically present with a few key symptoms, including:

• Changes in strength.
• Exaggerated reflex activities.
• Pain caused by damage to the nerve fibres in the spinal cord.
• Changes in sexual function and fertility.
• Loss of bowel or bladder control.
• Altered or complete loss of sensation, including the inability to differentiate between hot/cold.
• Numbness or extreme tingling/loss of sensation in feet, toes, hands and fingers.
• Difficulty breathing, coughing or ability to clear own secretions from lungs.