Paralysis: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Paralytic patients suffer from a condition that reduces their ability to move. Depending on the causes, paralysis can be of various types and can result in a complete or partial inability of movement.

Read on to know paralysis meaning, its causes, symptoms and everything related to it.

What is Paralysis?

Paralysis, also known as Plegia, is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. This health condition can be accompanied by a sensory loss (meaning loss of feeling) in the concerned area if there is significant sensory and motor damage.

In short, paralysis refers to the loss of muscle function in the body. As stated earlier, depending on the nature of the damage, paralysis can be partial or complete, temporary or permanent or localised or generalised. First, let's briefly discuss the type of paralysis.

Paralysis can be of different types. These include;

Complete Paralysis: As the name suggests, complete paralysis refers to a health condition when individuals cannot move or control their body parts. It may also result in losing the ability to feel in those muscles.

Partial Paralysis: In partial or incomplete paralysis, individuals can partially feel or even control the paralysed body muscles. This type of condition is often referred to as Paresis.

Localised Paralysis: In localised paralysis, only a specific area such as the face, foot, hands get affected.

Generalised Paralysis: Contrary to localised paralysis, generalised paralysis involves a general area in the body and is categorised by how much the body is affected or damaged. For example, this type of paralysis depends on the areas of the brain and spinal cord injury.

Monoplegia: This type of generalised paralysis affects one limb, such as one arm or one leg.
Diplegia: This type of generalised paralysis affects the same area on both sides, such as both arms, both legs, or both sides of the face.
Hemiplegia: In Hemiplegia, one side of the body gets affected, usually caused by a stroke. This type of generalised paralysis can damage one side of the brain.
Paraplegia: Paraplegia refers to the condition when paralysis occurs from the waist.
Quadriplegia: Quadriplegia refers to the condition when all four limbs get paralysed. In some cases, certain organs also get paralysed.
Locked-in Syndrome: Locked-in syndrome is the rarest form of paralysis and certainly most severe. In such conditions, individuals lose their ability to move their muscles except for the muscles that control eye movement.

Please note that paralysis can be stiff or spastic. Patients suffering from cerebral palsy have this kind of paralysis. On the other hand, paralysis can be floppy or flaccid, where an individual’s muscles loosen and eventually shrink.

It is clear by now that paralysis can affect any particular body part rather than just the limbs. Individuals can suffer from partial or complete paralysis at any point in time. When a person has paralysis, he/she can hardly feel any pain in the affected areas.

Depending on the causes or nature of paralysis, the treatment is categorised into two parts: either cure the patient or treat the condition so that the patient can return to their previous lifestyle as much as possible.

Having gained basic knowledge about the meaning of paralysis, let’s move on to the signs and symptoms of paralysis.

Signs of Paralysis

Depending on the type of paralysis, its symptoms also vary. Also, the symptoms of paralysis are easy to detect.

As stated earlier, paralysis can occur at any point in time. Thus, the signs of paralysis symptoms can occur in childhood as well as in adulthood. However, individuals might be aware if they feel the following sensations-

Severe pain in muscles after light exercise/workout
Muscle cramping
Permanent weakness
Feeling tingles
Longer muscle weakness attacks

Apart from these, there are early paralysis attack symptoms. These include-

Clumsiness
Confusion or loss of consciousness for even a brief moment
Difficulty with thinking, talking, memory, writing or reading, comprehension
Drooling
Loss of vision or changes in vision
Numbness (It can be one of the major symptoms of paralysis in legs and symptoms of paralysis in hand)
Changes in mood, personality or behaviour
Fever
Hearing loss
Neck pain
Rash
Constipation
Diarrhoea
Nausea with or without vomiting
Severe headache

Some of these symptoms also indicate facial paralysis. Wondering about the symptoms of facial paralysis?

The common symptoms of facial paralysis include-

Facial drop and difficulty in moving facial muscles
Increased sensitivity to sound
Reduced ability to taste
Drooling
Headache
Pain around jaw or ear on the affected side

If an individual suffers from the symptoms mentioned above frequently, they should immediately consult a doctor to prevent paralysis.

The above-mentioned sections describe the symptoms of paralysis. Now let us move to the section that causes these symptoms.

Causes of Paralysis

The trigger signals relayed from the brain controls muscle movement. When any part of the relay system such as the brain, spinal cord, nerves is affected or damaged, the signals cannot reach the destined area, i.e., muscles. Spinal cord injuries can result in paralysis (be it permanent or temporary).

Paralysis attacks can be caused due to various reasons. They can be generated from a congenital disability or later due to some injuries or accidents. However, stroke is considered one of the primary reasons for paralysis.

Below is discussed the main causes of paralysis.

A stroke or transient ischaemic attack or mini attack can cause sudden weakness on one side of the face. This can also cause arm weakness or slurred speech.
Severe head or spinal cord injury can cause paralysis.
Multiple sclerosis or myasthenia gravis or hypokalemic periodic paralysis can cause periodic weakness in the face, legs or arms.
Sleep paralysis can cause a temporary inability to move while waking up or falling asleep.
Bell’s palsy can cause sudden weakness in one side of the face.

Apart from these, there are other reasons for paralysis attacks.

A brain tumour can cause gradual weakness on one side of the body.
Motor neurone disease, spinal muscular atrophy or Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, which can cause paralysis in the arms and legs.
Guillain-Barre syndrome can cause paralysis in the legs, which can also spread to the face and arms within a few days.
Spina bifida cerebral palsy is a paralysis that is prevalent from birth.
Post-polio syndrome can result in paralysis many years after a polio infection.
Hereditary spastic paraplegia or Friedreich’s ataxia can cause gradual weakness in the legs, which is also one of the symptoms of paralysis in the legs. Melanoma, a tumour on the nerve, head and neck, can cause gradual weakness in parts of the face.

However, the causes of paralysis can also intensify when any injuries occur in patients having other medical conditions such as diabetes. For example, diabetic nerve damage can cause reduced ability to move some body parts, particularly the feet. As a result, it decreases the ability to walk but also causes other serious health issues such as cardiovascular episodes.

How to Diagnose Paralysis

Any kind of diagnosis is incomplete without determining the cause of the disease.

Due to the prominent symptom of loss of muscle movement, paralysis diagnosis is often an easy job. Subsequently, doctors can easily determine when a patient suffers from a stroke or spinal cord injury.

However, for internal body parts, diagnosing paralysis and the underlying causes become very difficult. In such cases, doctors might prescribe some tests. These are mentioned below,

CT Scan
X-ray
Myelography
MRI
Spinal tap
Electromyography (EMG)

What is the Best Treatment for Paralysis?

Currently, there is no cure for paralysis. However, several methods can treat patients who have partial paralysis and make their life easier with the ongoing physical condition.

Exercise and Physiotherapy:

With exercise and physiotherapy, paralysis can be cured to some extent. This method of treatment provides effective results for patients suffering from partial or complete paralysis (in hands or legs). In addition, sometimes exercise helps patients get cured and recover sensation and motor functions in one or two affected body parts.

Mobility Aids:

The advancement in medical technology enables patients to get several supporting mobility aids. For example, patients who have partial paralysis in the lower body part (i.e. legs) and have perfectly fine upper body parts can use mobility aids such as a manual wheelchair for short-distance commuting.

On the other hand, patients who have partial paralysis in the lower part and have less strength in the upper body part can use an electric wheelchair.

Moreover, cars can be custom fitted to align with the needs of specially-abled persons. Here, levers can be used instead of the accelerator and brake pedals. Also, the steering wheel can be customised and used in such a way where it can be operated using wrists instead of fingers/hands.

Communication:

Currently, there are numerous voice-command-based systems available in the market. Patients diagnosed with quadriplegia can use these advanced systems and control TV, audio units, mobile phones, room temperature, etc.

Moreover, patients who are diagnosed with locked-in syndrome can use special computers that can help them to make small sentences or enhance the form of communication.

Medication:

In some cases of paralysis, brain or spinal cord injuries prove to be beneficial in the treatment. This type of surgery focuses on reducing the size of the swelling. However, after the surgeries, patients must take paralysis treatment medicines religiously as these medicines can help prevent any post-surgery viral or bacterial infections.

What Are the Risk Factors of Paralysis?

As stated earlier, of all the causes, stroke is considered the prominent reason for paralysis. Stroke refers to the medical condition when blood flow is blocked to a part of the brain. When brain cells do not receive blood, the cells do not get enough oxygen, resulting in their death. Subsequently, when brain cells die, individuals experience weakness, i.e. paralysis and lose the ability to talk or move.

Below is discussed the risk factors of paralysis, i.e. stroke.

High Blood Pressure: Any person with lower than 120/80 mm Hg blood pressure is considered healthy. Subsequently, any figure above indicates high blood pressure, which can gradually damage blood vessels and lead to the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels in the brain. High blood pressure not only results in stroke (hence the chances of paralysis) but also severe heart diseases.
High Blood Cholesterol: High blood cholesterol can lead to blood clots, one of the paralysis risk factors.
Diabetes: Individuals diagnosed with Type 1 and 2 Diabetes are at high risk for stroke and subsequent paralysis.
Smoking: Individuals who are addicted to smoking are also at high risk of stroke. Cigarettes contain harmful chemicals such as carbon monoxide, which can severely damage the cardiovascular system and increase blood pressure. Further, smoking can accelerate plaque build-up in arteries. This plaque accumulation can lead to blood clots and significantly decrease the blood flow to the brain.

Is There Any Way to Prevent Paralysis?

To prevent paralysis, individuals must follow the rules mentioned below,

Individuals must maintain a balanced diet.
Individuals must be active and engage in some exercise for at least 30 minutes a day that can positively affect blood pressure, heart, cholesterol, and body weight.
Individuals must quit smoking.
Individuals who are overweight must focus on weight management therapies or techniques.
Individuals must opt for an annual health check-up to detect early paralysis symptoms.
Individuals must pay additional care to treatment if they have other medical problems.

While controlling some genetic paralysis is impossible, individuals can adopt a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risk.

The write-up mentioned above talks about essential points regarding paralysis. Read this article and learn everything about paralysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Can a patient die from paralysis?

Yes, paralysis can be fatal in some cases. However, it depends on the organ or muscles that have undergone paralysis.

What are the complications of paralysis?

Paralysis can lead to several associated medical conditions, including problems with blood flow, breathing, heart function, speaking or swallowing difficulty, behavioural changes or mood swings, changes in the function in organs, glands and other tissues, sexual problems, blood clots, loss of urine and bowel control, changes in joints, bones, muscles, etc.

What is periodic paralysis?

Periodic paralysis refers to a medical condition that causes sudden attacks of short-term muscle weakness, stiffness or paralysis.