Quadriplegia is a type of spinal cord injury. You can become paralyzed if your spinal cord is injured or if you suffer from certain diseases. Quadriplegia means that the spinal cord inside your neck is injured. This injury causes loss of feeling and movement in your arms, legs, torso or trunk of your body. Injuries to the spinal cord are described according to the site of spinal cord lesions. Doctors use letters and numbers to describe the point of your injury. The letter “C” is used to describe the cervical lesion. This is the lesion of the spinal cord which is in the neck. The spine is made up of 8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar and 4 sacral. If you have a spinal cord injury C3, means that damage is at the level of the third section of the spinal cord.

Symptoms of Quadriplegia

Symptoms of Quadriplegia can be as simple as having difficulty with fine motor tasks, such as writing or using scissors, or as profound as the inability to maintain balance or walk.
A gradual onset quadriplegia can be caused by tumors of the spinal cord, always localized in the cervical spine, and multiple sclerosis at an advanced stage. Even hemorrhage or cerebral thrombosis if caused repeatedly before Hemiplegia, can cause it e.g. a paralysis of half body, and then a complete Tetraplegia. In children, a Tetraplegia can be caused by abnormal development of the central nervous system or from a severe lack of oxygen at birth, which has irreparably damaged nerve tissue.

Quadriplegia paralysis involves all four limbs simultaneously, with complete loss of movement. If the paralysis is only partial (paresis), it is called Quadriplegia and Quadriparesis. The causes and treatment of quadriplegia are similar to those of Tetraplegia.

How Canadian Disability Benefits Helps?

At the moment there is no valid and definitive therapy, patients require daily assistance on an on going basis.

The Canadian Disability Benefits provide guidelines to help individuals with Quadriplegia, if they would be eligible for the disability tax credit under proposed changes. The Canadian Disability Benefits will also continue to assist in order to ease financial burden of Canadians living with this type of disorder.