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Spinal Cord Injury Care

Suffering a spinal cord injury can be life changing and distressing for both the client and their family. The future may seem unstable and frightening for everyone involved, which is why there are a variety of support options available to help you navigate this new road.
The team at Four Oaks Healthcare work closely with our clients to truly understand the level of care required, and then work with the client and their family to develop an individual care plan

If the spinal cord injury concerned is new, it can feel like every aspect of yours or your loved one’s life has just been dramatically affected, which can be hard to cope with emotionally, mentally, and socially; without the added new physical challenges you are facing.

It may be that you have been living with the aftermath of a spinal cord injury and didn’t realise how difficult things would be. You don’t have to go through this alone, there is support available to you.

Here are some of the most common questions we are asked about spinal cord injuries. If you have a question that we have not answered here, then please get in touch so we can offer help and advice.

What Is A Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury is when the spinal cord and nerves are damaged, either permanently or temporarily, limiting the normal motor or sensory functions.  This is usually caused by serious injury, such as a significant fall or a car accident, or from ongoing debilitating diseases such as spina bifida, transverse myelitis, or polio.

Types Of Spinal Cord Injury

The type and severity of injury to your spine can depend on which section of your spine was injured. There are different types of spinal cord injury:

Cervical Spinal Cord Injury This will impact your head and neck.
Lumbar Spinal Cord Injury This type of injury will affect your hips and legs.
Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury This will impact your upper chest, mid-back and abdominal muscles.
Sacral Spinal Cord Injury This type of injury will affect your hips, the back of your thighs, buttocks and pelvic organs.
Complete Spinal Cord Injury This refers to the loss of all sensory and motor functions below the point of injury.
Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury This refers to having some motor and sensory feeling affected by the injury to varying degrees.

The type of spinal cord injury you suffer may impact the type of care we recommend. All of our care plans and packages are fully tailored to your individual situation

What Does Rehabilitation After A Spinal Cord Injury Look Like?

That is a tough question to answer because it depends on the type of injury and the severity. However, any complex care nurse assigned to assist you throughout your rehabilitation should be highly trained, fully qualified, and experienced in caring for people with your type of spinal cord injury

With that in mind, here are some examples of different rehabilitation techniques your doctor may recommend: Physical therapy, Use of adaptive or assistive devices, Occupational therapy & Education and training on coping strategies and techniques

As part of our rehabilitation programme your live in carer or daily carer will continuously work on regaining sensory or motor control and can perform methodical tests to determine any neurological improvement.

Testimonials

What Our Clients Think

From the moment I contacted this organisation, the staff have always been polite and incredibly helpful. They have had to step in at short notice when other providers have let us down. They have provided everything we have asked for in a thoroughly efficient and professional manner. All staff have been incredibly caring and thoughtful when approaching my mother’s needs. As a family, we are incredibly grateful for the service provided and I personally have already recommended the organisation to a potential client and a potential employee. We will have no hesitation in using these services again.
Sandra H
My parents have a live-in carer from Four Oaks Healthcare. This service has enabled my parents to stay together at home. Since the live-in carer started caring for my parents, it has enabled the family to relax and feel confident that our parents are safe and being well looked after. As a family, we can now visit our parents and spend quality time with them instead of time spent caring and worrying about their health and wellbeing.
The regular live-in carer is extremely competent in relieving the family of the burden and worry, she is kind and respects the wishes of our parents. When the regular carer has a holiday the replacement carer was also very good, keeping the continuity of care. We are extremely happy with the service provided by Four Oaks Healthcare.
Christine S
It was very apparent from the start when the first carer walked through the door for this first time just how caring and committed she was. This continued as we met mom’s other 5 carers. Every single one of them were fantastic with mom, taking time to speak to her, find out what she needed and always making sure that they cared for her with dignity. Also on numerous occasions, asking if we needed anything, which has got to be well over and above what is expected and so very much appreciated.To be brutally honest we were all dreading having strangers coming into the house but this was a very short-lived worry as everyone was so caring, so committed, so professional and so polite, putting us all completely at ease.

In our experience Four Oaks were outstanding in every way.

Chris J

Perhaps the biggest single plus about Four Oaks over previous care providers is the ability to provide continuity of carer. I am convinced my mother has benefited from the stability of having the same compassionate, competent and dedicated carer for the past eight months

Paul K

What Are Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms?

Symptoms of a spinal cord injury can vary significantly between each individual client depending on where the spinal cord has been damaged and how badly.

Motor and sensory functions affected can depend on where the damage to the spinal cord took place and the severity.

Symptoms of a spinal cord injury can result in one of more of the following:

Loss of, or altered movement
Loss of, or altered sensation
Inability to feel heat, cold and touch
Difficulty breathing or coughing
Loss of bowel or bladder control
Pain or stinging caused by damaged nerve fibres in the spinal cord
Changes in sexual function or infertility

Why Choose Four Oaks Healthcare For Your Spinal Cord Injury Care?

Our personal care assistants can provide care designed to the specific needs of our client, from rehabilitation help to 24-hour live-in care. This service is offered in Birmingham and all around the UK.

Our specialist staff are highly trained in supporting the clients and their families emotionally through this time, and can ease the transition into rehabilitation, with the ultimate goal always to have the client living as independently in their own home as possible.

Our clinical nurse specialists will continually monitor the healthcare provided by our live-in or day care staff to ensure you our your loved ones are receiving appropriate treatment. Your clinical nurse specialists will also be an expert in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, to enable us to provide a specially tailored care plan to support you from the comfort of your own home.

We also assess every client’s social as well as clinical requirements to enable us to develop a complex care plan that suits their lifestyle and to help us find a carer that has similar interests to help build a strong relationship.

Finally, our complex care providers undergo continuous ongoing training and assessments so that you can be sure your loved one is in the best possible hands.

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