Why is damage to the neck fatal

Playing sports can contribute to neck injuries of varying degrees of severity ranging from relatively minor injuries such as muscle strains to severe life-threatening conditions such as neck fractures and cervical spinal cord injuries. A fractured broken neck is a very serious matter, but in many cases, the patient can make a full recovery and regain all neurological functions. A neck fracture can sometimes lead to a complete spinal cord injury, which will result in some degree of paralysis or even death.

While catastrophic cervical injuries do occur in sports, the incidence of fatal cases decreased in the last few decades due to better protective gear, increased awareness, better coaching, and rule changes.

Still, these injuries may occur in athletes who participate in contact sports such as American football, soccer, and rugby as well as non-contact sports such as gymnastics and cycling. Cervical injuries resulting from participation in sports can be divided into the following clinical syndromes:.

The vertebral column or spine is a part of the axial skeleton and provides paramount structural support for our body. The neck region houses the cervical portion of the spinal column, which consists of seven bones C1-C7 vertebrae , separated from one another by intervertebral discs.

These discs allow the spine to move freely and act as shock absorbers during activity. Along with strong muscles, flexible tendons, and ligaments, the spine allows us to stand upright, bend, and twist. The spinal cord, a very vulnerable nervous tissue that connects the brain to the body, is located in the middle of the cervical spine, protected by bony vertebral structures.

The cervical spine functions to support the weight of the head and to provide flexibility for performing an extensive range of motions with our head.

The movement of our head is possible due to the specialization of the first two vertebrae C1 and C2 which connect directly with the skull. A cervical fracture is a break in one or more of the cervical bones or vertebrae in the neck. A cervical dislocation refers to a ligament injury in the neck that has caused two or more cervical vertebrae to abnormally separate from one another. A severe, sudden twist to the neck or a severe blow to the head or neck area can cause a neck fracture.

Sports involving violent physical contact carry a greater risk of a neck fracture, including football, ice hockey, rugby, and wrestling. Injuries to the nerves and tissue relating to the cervical region are the most severe of all spinal cord injuries because the higher up in the spine an injury occurs, the more damage that is caused to the central nervous system. Depending on the how severe the damage to the spinal cord is, the injury may be noted as complete or incomplete.

The C6 and C7 vertebrae are the lowest levels of the cervical spine, near the base of the neck. Injuries to the spinal cord corresponding to these regions of the spine have the potential to impact everything below the top of the ribcage resulting in quadriplegia. Though they often have better outcomes than higher cervical injuries, they are still considered incredibly severe because more damage is caused to the central nervous system the higher up in the spine the injury occurs.

As is the case with any spinal cord injury, the damage is characterized as complete or incomplete depending on the severity. The C1 and C2 vertebrae form the top of the spine neck at the base of the skull. These bones are named atlas and axis respectively and support the pivot motion of the neck.

Atlas and axis are followed by C3 and C4 to form the high cervical vertebrae. If not fatal, complete damage to the spinal cord or nerves corresponding to any of the high-cervical vertebral levels most often results in full paralysis, or quadriplegia.

A survivor may not be able to breathe on their own and will likely require hour care for the rest of their life. An individual with an injury to the cervical spinal cord at the C5 level or below has a greater chance of retaining some motor and sensory function than a patient who experiences an injury to the C1-C4 levels.

Though damage to the spinal cord at any portion of the neck has the potential to result in full paralysis of each of the four limbs, survivors of C5-C8 injuries may be able to breathe on their own and speak normally.

You can break or chip a bone, you can have a break that causes a bone to lose alignment, or you can have a break that causes the bone to go through your skin, Dr. Farjoodi says.

If your injury causes your vertebrae to become misaligned, you could be in trouble because that means they might cause damage to the spinal cord. If that happens, the injury can lead to paralysis or even death. Park, M. But again, the way that the fracture happens, and the displacement of bone or disc are the biggest factors in determining how intense the neck injury may be, he says.

Agabegi says. In those cases without spinal cord damage, doctors will usually put you in a neck brace for two to six weeks to help calm your muscles and control the pain, Dr. Usually, you can go back to playing sports three months after your injury.

A broken neck may happen when a person experiences sudden or hard trauma to the neck or head. This may occur during sports or other physical activity or as the result of an accident or serious fall. One study suggests that adolescent athletes have the highest rates of cervical fractures resulting from sports than any other age group. If a person sustains an injury to their neck in an accident, call and do not move their head, neck, or body.

Emergency medical personnel can carefully handle a person without further injuring their neck. Often, a broken neck will cause severe pain and tenderness in the neck immediately after an accident or fall. Other symptoms include:. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons say that injuries to the neck have the most impact on body movement and feeling because they are high in the spinal column.

If a person injures their spinal cord in the neck area, paralysis from the neck down is a risk. A broken neck is a medical emergency.

Doctors may treat a minor compression fracture in one vertebra with a cervical or neck brace. A person may need to wear the brace for several weeks or months.

They may also need pain medicine, either prescription or over-the-counter OTC. Traction involves using a device that restricts the movement of the head and neck more than a brace does.

It may include weights and pulleys to put the bones in the right position. A halo vest is a traction device that consists of a hard vest and a ring halo around the head.