Don’t be afraid of spinal cord injury, there are ways to prevent it through rehabilitation

Don’t be afraid of spinal cord injury, there are ways to prevent it through rehabilitation

Authors: Qi Yan, Xie Haixia Chief Judge: Zhai Hua

Unit: Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)

This popular science work is one of the popular science materials in the series "Don't be afraid of spinal cord injuries, there are ways to prevent and rehabilitate them"

A gentleman takes precautions to prevent them, that is, to prevent them before they happen. Today we will introduce the three levels of prevention of spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation prevention refers to preventing the occurrence of various types of disabilities and delaying the development of disabilities through effective means.

Spinal cord injury rehabilitation includes three aspects: rehabilitation prevention, rehabilitation assessment and rehabilitation treatment. Among them, rehabilitation prevention is the premise and basis for preventing spinal cord injury, disability and handicap, and is one of the most important aspects of spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation prevention of spinal cord injury can be divided into primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention.

What does the three-level prevention of spinal cord injury rehabilitation specifically refer to? Let’s take a look!

Primary prevention is to prevent the occurrence of illness, injury and disability, that is, to take precautions before they happen. It is the most effective prevention and can reduce the incidence of disability by 70%.

Primary prevention is also called etiology prevention, which means taking various effective measures to prevent the occurrence of spinal cord injury based on the etiology of the injury. For example, taking folic acid can effectively prevent serious neural tube defects, spina bifida, meningocele, etc.; injecting polio vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis (also known as polio) is also primary prevention. Preventing work-related accidents, paying attention to traffic safety and sports safety, and preventing accidents; strengthening health education, avoiding inhaling laughing gas; paying attention to mental health, adolescent mental health, and preventing suicide by jumping from buildings are all primary prevention.

Secondary prevention is to limit or reverse activity limitations or disabilities caused by body structure damage, which can reduce the incidence of disability by 10%-20%.

Secondary prevention refers to preventing spinal cord injury in high-risk groups. High-risk groups refer to people suffering from spinal fractures, spinal degeneration, aortic dissection, spinal arteriovenous malformations and other diseases. The focus of secondary prevention is to conduct regular physical examinations, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment.

When transporting patients with spinal fractures, it is important to master the correct transport methods to avoid secondary injuries.

The tertiary prevention is to prevent activity limitation, avoid disability from developing into participation limitation or disability, and minimize the impact of disability or handicap on individuals, families and society.

The focus of tertiary prevention is to improve the social adaptability of patients and reduce the impact of disability through comprehensive rehabilitation. Measures taken include physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, speech therapy, as well as braces, assistive devices, wheelchairs, etc. In addition, timely intervention in educational rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, social rehabilitation, etc. according to the needs of the rehabilitation subjects is an important guarantee for the rehabilitation subjects to return to their families and society.

(Some pictures in this article are from the Internet)

References:

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