What happens in spinal cord injury?
The spinal cord is composed of millions of fine nerve fibers called axons which carry motor impulses to neurons which in turn pass the information to the peripheral nerves and onward to muscles. Sensory messages move in the opposite direction, from nerve endings throughout the body, through the cord, and back to the brain. These nerves are like telephone cables dense bunches of thin “wires” down which electrical signals travel. Sometimes, in response to trauma, the body does manage to accomplish a degree of axonal regrowth on its own. Small amounts of nerve repair and remyelination have been observed. Central nerves have been known to sprout, sending out new shoots looking for a connection, but the odds are not good of linking up to a useful receptor without some help. The body really can’t do this repair by itself. As soon as a spinal cord is injured, a complex chain of events begins. The cord starts to hemorrhage, bleeding from the inside out. Suddenly the cord a soft, gelatinous mat
