Intimacy and sex after a spinal cord injury can be tough to talk about. This sheet can help get the conversation started.

Good nutrition is a vital part of staying healthy after an SCI. A nutritious and balanced diet helps you manage your weight. It provides you with the energy you need for daily activities.

You may think that you can’t be physically fit with an SCI. But you can indeed exercise, be active, and build and maintain fitness. Exercise plays a very important role in keeping you healthy. Learn here all the ways activity and exercise can help you.

An SCI does not affect your lungs, but it can affect your breathing muscles (muscles of respiration). This can affect how well you breathe. It also puts you at higher risk for pneumonia and other lung problems. Your healthcare provider and healthcare team will work with you to manage any breathing problems you have. You can also take steps daily to keep your lungs healthy and your breathing strong.

After an SCI, your bladder may not work the same way as before. During your rehabilitation, your healthcare team gave you a bladder program to help you adjust to and manage these changes. Going forward, it will be up to you to follow this program on a regular basis.

After an SCI, your bowel may not work the same way as before. To help you adjust to and manage the changes, your healthcare team has helped you create a bowel program to follow on a regular basis. It's up to you to put this program into practice. Doing so will help you remain active, social, and healthy.

A pressure injury is a sore caused by too much pressure on the skin. This reduces blood flow, damaging skin and underlying tissue. The result is a wound that can be quite serious. Having an SCI makes you more likely to develop a pressure injury.

An SCI causes many changes in the body. Feeling and movement can both be affected. And the functions of many body organs may also be affected. These changes make certain problems (called complications) more likely to happen. To help limit these problems, take steps daily to manage your health. This sheet gives a brief summary of what this involves.

You have a loved one who's receiving care at the end of life. You've been helping to make your loved one comfortable. As they move into the final stages, this sheet can help you find ways to help your loved one die with dignity.

A healthcare proxy represents another person when that person can't speak for himself or herself. The name of this role varies by state. It may be called a Durable Medical Power of Attorney or Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare.