Rehabilitation.

During your hospital stay, a rehabilitation team will work with you to
improve your remaining muscle strength and to give you the greatest
possible mobility and independence. Your team may include a physical
therapist, Occupational Therapist, rehabilitation nurse, rehabilitation
psychologist, social worker, nutritionist, recreation therapist and a
doctor who specializes in physical medicine (Physiatrist).

During
the initial stages of rehabilitation, therapists usually emphasize
regaining leg and arm strength, redeveloping fine Motor skills and
learning adaptive techniques to accomplish day-to-day tasks. A program
typically includes exercise, as well as training on the medical devices
you'll need to assist you, such as a wheelchair or equipment that can
make it easier to fasten buttons or dial a telephone.

Therapy
often begins in the hospital and continues for several weeks in a
rehabilitation facility. As therapy continues, you and your family
members will receive counseling and assistance on a wide range of
topics, from dealing with urinary tract infections and skin care to
modifying your home and car to accommodate your Disability. Therapists
will encourage you to resume your favorite hobbies, participate in
athletic activities and return to the workplace, if possible. They'll
even help determine what type of assistive equipment you'll need for
these vocational and recreational activities and teach you how to use
it.

Medications. You may benefit from
medications that manage the signs, symptoms and complications of spinal
cord injury. These include medications to control pain and muscle
Spasticity, as well as medications that can improve bladder control,
bowel control and sexual functioning. You may also need short-term
medications from time to time, such as antibiotics for urinary tract
infections.

New technologies. Inventive
medical devices can help people with a spinal cord injury become more
independent and more mobile. Some apparatuses also may restore
function. These include:

• New wheelchairs.

  Improved, lighter-weight wheelchairs are making people with spinal cord
  injury more mobile and more comfortable. The Food and Drug
  Administration has even approved a wheelchair that can climb stairs and
  elevate a seated passenger to eye level to reach high places without
  help.

• Computer devices.
  Computer-driven tools and gadgets can help with daily routines. You can
  use voice-activated computer technologies to answer and dial a phone,
  or to use a computer and pay bills. Computer-controlled technologies
  can also help with bathing, dressing, grooming, cleaning and reading.
• Neural prostheses.
  These sophisticated devices connect with the nervous system to
  supplement or replace lost motor and sensory functions. There are
  Functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems, which use electrical
  stimulators to control arm and leg muscles to allow people with a
  spinal cord injury to stand, walk, reach and grip. These systems are
  composed of computer-controlled electrodes that are taped to the skin
  or surgically implanted and controlled by the user. One of the systems
  allows someone with a spinal cord injury to trigger hand and arm
  movements in one arm by shrugging the opposite shoulder. These devices
  require more research, but they've gained a great deal of attention, in
  part because the late actor Christopher Reeve was able to rely
  primarily on an FES bicycle that used computer-controlled electrodes to
  stimulate his legs to cycle. He also had a system implanted to
  stimulate his breathing.