It is estimated that around 50,000 people in the UK are living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) and 2,500 people are newly injured each year.
Your spinal cord transports messages to and from your brain to all areas of your body. A spinal cord injury (SCI) can result from trauma (e.g. a car crash), disease (e.g. cancer) or a degenerative condition such as multiple sclerosis (MS). This disrupts the messages going to and from the brain, causing partial or full loss of movement and sensation in the body.
Symptoms of SCI will depend on the severity and location of the injury. Almost all people with SCI experience problems with their bowels. Symptoms include constipation, faecal incontinence and /or difficulty emptying. These symptoms can have a devastating impact on all aspects of lifestyle. In fact, unpredictable bowel symptoms affect quality of life more than the problems with mobility.
There are treatments which can help, including rectal irrigation which gives the user back control, allowing them to get on with their lives.