In a recent post, I talked about the lack of a cure for spinal cord injuries such as paralysis. However, there are some treatment options available. One of these options is called peripheral nerve rerouting. While it is not a cure for paralysis, it could help your loved one if they face paralysis issues. You can learn more about peripheral nerve rerouting here.
Defining Peripheral Nerve Rerouting
This type of treatment has been around for over 100 years. It is a procedure that has been tried on many different patients facing spinal cord damage and paralysis.
As the name suggests, this treatment deals with the peripheral nerves. These nerves are can be found outside of the brain and the spinal cord. When a person goes through peripheral nerve rerouting, the peripheral nerves located above the point of injury become rerouted. They therefore can connect to the peripheral nerves located below the point of injury. This allows communication to occur between nerves affected by the accident and the brain. This can help a person regain some sensory and muscular functions.
Peripheral nerve rerouting bypasses damaged nerves in an attempt to bring power from some nerves to others. Think of an electrical wire that uses an extension cord to get around a section of the cable that has blown out. This is essentially what peripheral nerve rerouting tries to do.
Who Can Benefit From Peripheral Nerve Rerouting?
Peripheral nerve rerouting might be helpful for certain people facing paralysis. Particularly, those with C1-C4 injuries have had improvement through peripheral nerve rerouting. These patients have had improvement in their respiratory function after the procedure is completed. Patients with C5-C9 injuries have also seen improvement. Their improvement has come in their hand and arm function. Finally, patients with lower spinal cord injuries have also had improvement. This improvement is in their leg function. Some patients have even been able to walk again with the help of devices, after the undergo this procedure.
Getting Help
There are many types of treatment for spinal cord injuries – peripheral nerve rerouting is just one of them. And this procedure is not right for everyone. A doctor may or may not recommend this procedure for your loved one depending on their type of injury, the severity of injury, and other treatment options that are available. But, it is good to know a little about peripheral nerve rerouting, especially if your loved one is the victim of a spinal cord injury. To learn more about treatment options, you can contact a doctor. You can also contact my office for additional resources. I will answer your questions and point you in the right direction.
