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Fibre and fluid intake is essential to keep your bowels moving effectively after a spinal cord injury. This resource provides information about managing your diet for optimal bowel function. This handout was created by health care professionals at the Lyndhurst Centre, home of University Health Network's Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program in Toronto, ON.

A standing step transfer is a technique to move from one surface to another. To do this transfer, you need some leg strength and good balance. You can use a walker or cane to help with the standing part of this transfer. Practice this transfer with your therapist before trying it alone. Your therapist can also help teach an assistant the safest way to help you.

After a spinal cord injury, the muscles that help you breathe and cough can be weak. Breath stacking improves breathing and coughing by helping remove mucous from your lungs. Getting mucous out of your lungs helps prevent lung collapse and infections like pneumonia. Having a healthy lung volume improves oxygen, helps you speak louder, and reduces breathing problems.

Preparing meals after spinal cord injury is simple enough with some planning. An important part of a healthy diet is preparing your own food. By eating at home you can control portion sizes and reduce fat, salt, and sugar intake. Using the right tools and devices can help make it safer and easier for you to prepare meals. Remember that changes in your sensation and strength may put you at risk for burns and cuts.

Sometimes pain does not go away with medications or other treatments. Pain that lasts many weeks or months is called long-term or chronic pain. After a spinal cord injury, this kind of pain is often caused by damage to your nerves or spinal cord. When your spinal cord does not heal very well, this pain can last for months or even years. This handout will teach some helpful tips for coping with chronic pain.

Postural hypotension is a quick drop in blood pressure that happens when you sit up or stand up. This can be a drop in your systolic blood pressure by 20 mmHg (top number) or your diastolic blood pressure by 10 mmHg (bottom number). It can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded. The feeling is often mild and goes away after a few seconds or minutes. Sometimes, the drop in blood pressure can be more severe and even cause people to faint.

When using a wheelchair, going up and down stairs can be challenging. While some people can go up one or two stairs alone, going up many stairs is best done with help. In most cases, you will need at least two assistants to help you up and down stairs. Practice stairs with your therapist before trying it with assistants. Always make sure your assistants are able and strong enough to help you.