Is This True With A Spinal Cord Injury?!
Question: ( This Is A Genuine Question )
I know of an ex ambulance technician who told me one day that if a male has a complete spinal cord injury that one of the signs is an erection.
Whilst I still respect this person for what she used to work as I find this hard (forgive the punt) to believe.
Any truth in what she has said?
Thanks
Answers: ( This Is A Genuine Question )
I know of an ex ambulance technician who told me one day that if a male has a complete spinal cord injury that one of the signs is an erection.
Whilst I still respect this person for what she used to work as I find this hard (forgive the punt) to believe.
Any truth in what she has said?
Thanks
I sustained a spinal cord injury 28 years ago. I was an Aeromedical Technician in the USAF at the time. I don't recall having an erection or not but I knew my injury was incomplete as I was able to move.In the first 72 hours post traumatic event there is swelling of the cord around the injury site which is why the doctors use blood thinning agents, anti-clot medications such as Heparin or Coumadin . This puts pressure on the cord and wreaks havoc with one's system. Fact: many spinal cord injuries are a direct result of improper movement after injury. Therefore, if someone dives into a swimming pool and hits their head on the bottom do not rush to get them out of the water. If they are breathing, carefully flip them right side up and with at least one other person support the person's head to minimize movement and potential cutting of the cord. The water's buoyancy allows minimum effort to stabilize the patient until professional help comes. It is a lot easier for the EMT's to stabilize the patient with a back board, and hard collar in the water than on the ground. When I sustained my injury on 8/5/79 approximately 60% of spinal cord injured patients were incomplete prior to movement. If the person is not in a life threatening situation do not move them. If anyone even suspects a spinal cord injury keep the person calm and leave them where they are until the ambulance crew arrives.
It is not necessarily a sign of a spinal cord injury. A male with a spinal cord injury is capable of having an erection tho. Only a neurologist can tell if a spinal cord injury is "complete"
Yes, in the emergency medical enviroment, a priapism (erection for extended periods) is a sign of possible spinal damage. It is only one sign. There are non-traumatic ways to also have a priapism, and there are times when you can have spinal damage without showing an erection. But when conducting an initial assessment of a patient, we try to err on the side of caution and assume that a priapism is a sign of probable spinal damage and take steps to prevent causing further damage to the spine.
The reason is that the nerves that control the penis (the erection and shrinking) run through the spine. Often, if these nerves are traumatized or severed, a priapism insues due to the signals (or lack therof) reaching the penis.
***EDIT: I just saw the reply above mine. She is also correct. The difference is the enviroments the contition is seen in, and the priorities of the medical personnel evaluating the patient.
Yes...a priopism is a sign of spinal cord damage