Talk:Paraplegia

message: This article should say how this compares with Quadriplegia. I don't know enough detail.
:Short, possibly oversimplified, version: paraplegia is from the waist down, quadriplegia is from the neck down. --Paul A 07:55, 19 Feb 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: This could really do with some expanding. More information on the spinal cord I think, and what exactly happens when injured. Perhaps talk on the long term outcomes, maybe current research that is going on. The history of paralysis would be useful aswell, as beofre WW1, you simply died due to lack of any sort of healthcare to deal with paralysis.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mark gg daniels (talk • contribs) 16:19, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: tExpansion

message: LOS ANGELES —  A hospital van dropped off a paraplegic man on Skid Row, allegedly leaving him crawling in the street with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag, police said. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251062,00.html Crocoite 22:40, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is a disturbing story, but I don't think it belongs in the article about paraplegia. Perhaps it could go into an article about hospital abuse, or even Skid Row, but I don't think it belongs here. In the other articles about medical conditions, we don't talk about the unrelated, specific experiences of individual people with the condition. You posted this a while back, so probably don't much care at this point, but feel free to respond if you would like to continue the discussion about where, if anywhere, this information belongs. Thanks! Hananekosan (talk) 04:59, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Police: Los Angeles Hospital Dumped Paraplegic Man on Skid Row 

message: Impotence and various degrees of urinary and fecal incontinence are very common in those affected. Many use catheters and/or a bowel management program (often involving suppositories, enemas, or digital stimulation of the bowels) to address these problems. With successful bladder and bowel management, paraplegics can virtually prevent all accidental urinary or bowel discharges
:1. Why is impotence cited and it's highly successful treatment, with ED medication, not?
:2. Is routine defecation or the use of toilet paper typically descibed as a "bowel management program" or "problem" within the medical community?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.57.1.221 (talk) 04:54, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I think you are probably uninformed about bowel function in many paraplegics. The anal sphincter is actually very low in the spinal cord, so nearly any damage to the spinal cord results in problems controlling that sphincter or knowing when one needs to have a bowel movement, which can result in unpleasantries as accidents, etc. Nearly everyone who has a spinal cord injury, do require a "bowel management program" and it's not routine defecation and the use of toilet paper. I'm assuming your question was asked in good faith but it certainly could be construed as rude to people with paraplegia as well as the medical community. We in the medical community certainly do not consider "routine defecation or the use of toilet paper" as a problem or a bowel management program. This is a talk page, not an article or other available resource, so I won't get into the detailed version here, but most bowel programs consist of a specific routine anywhere from once a day to once every three days, depending on the person's system. The programs are usually done at the same time every day, to help keep "regular," and they can take up to or over an hour. Usually some combination of digital stimulation, medications, and manual evacuation are the key part of the bowel program. An internet search will turn up further information if you truly do want to learn. BTW, if you or someone you know is a paraplegic and does not require a bowel program and can simply use "routine defecation" and "toilet paper," you/they are very lucky. The details of a bowel program probably do not belong in the article, but mentioning the ED treatments is a good point. Hananekosan (talk) 04:59, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Impotence/Incontinence

message: what if someone lost the use of both arms but still had their legs? Wouldn't that be paraplegia as well  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.105.7.183 (talk) 01:47, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: No, because paraplegia is a paralytic condition that affects the lower body by definition. Someone who has mid-body paralysis affecting the arms but not the legs has just that: paralysis. Paraplegia is simply a specific type of paralytic condition that affects the lower body; quadriplegia is also another paralytic condition, affecting the lower body, as with paraplegia, as well as at least part of the upper body. You can be paralyzed or have paralysis but be neither paraplegic nor quardiplegic. Hananekosan (talk) 04:17, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  paraplegic definition