A spinal cord injury (or SCI) refers to any damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal. This often causes permanent changes in strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury.
The ability to control the limbs after a spinal cord injury depends on where the injury is along the spinal cord and the severity of the injury. Paralysis from a spinal cord injury can be referred to as tetraplegia, quadriplegia or paraplegia.
Spinal cord injuries may result in one or more of the following symptoms: loss of movement, loss or altered sensation (including the ability to feel heat, cold and touch), loss of bowel or bladder control, exaggerated reflex activities or spasms, pain or an intense stinging sensation, and difficulty breathing, coughing or clearing secretions from your lungs.
How we can help
When we started designing clothes for wheelchair users more than 25 years ago, it was solely with the needs of people with a Spinal Cord Injury in mind. The most essential garment for these early customers with spinal cord injuries was wheelchair trousers. They had to be comfortable to wear with flat back seams, no lumpy pockets, higher at the back and slightly lower at the front, and with a shaped seat which meant that they stay on the waist without drooping at the back when the wearer is sitting down. Other features include easy-to-access pockets, trouser legs that are wide enough to access a drain bag, comfortable fabrics, and fastenings that are easily managed for people with poor manual dexterity. Most importantly, we wanted these adaptive clothes to look and feel great to give the wearer confidence.
Responding to customer feedback, we produced a range of trousers for wheelchair users to include wheelchair jeans, zip front wheelchair trousers and wheelchair shorts, and have gradually extended the range to offer wheelchair waterproofs to help protect you in the worst weather