Whether you are a victim of Spinal Cord Injury or you know somebody with one, the issue of regulating his or her body temperature has probably come up at one time or another. For the most part it's not a big deal, but if you plan on being outdoors for extended periods of time, it can become a life-threatening issue.

Every Spinal Injury is different, and everyone's body is different. The only thing I can and will do is share my experiences with you as a C6/C7 Quadriplegic. My level of injury has left me with absolutely no sensation or voluntary muscle control below my upper chest, as well as weak triceps, no finger movement, and about a 50% loss of sensation throughout my arms. With nearly 80% of physical sensory loss, I find it very hard to stay outdoors in temperatures above 80 degrees, or below freezing for extended periods of time. Humidity and wind also play a big part in dealing with the temperature.

I'll start with summer. I live in New York, and for the most part it's humid throughout the summer. When the temperature is 80 or higher, the humidity is average, and the sun is bright, I might be able to stay outside for about 15 minutes before I start heating up to uncomfortable levels. What most people don't realize is that my injury has caused me to lose the ability to sweat! The only way a human body can stay cool (naturally) is by sweating!!! When a person's skin gets hot, a signal goes to the brain telling it that "hey it's getting hot". The brain then sends the necessary command via the spinal cord to that sensory neuron and tells the skin to open its pores and allow the sweat glads to leak some sweat out. Now without getting into the physics on how temperature disperses with water on the surface of your skin, I'd like to just make it clear that due to my Spinal Cord Injury, my brain and skin can't communicate, therefore my body will just heat up and if I'm not careful, I'll end up with Hyperthermia (overheating).

As far as winter, I find it easier to stay out in extreme cold rather than extreme hot. That's probably due to the fact that you can put more and more layers on and stay warm, but in the summer, even if you're naked, the sun will still heat you up. Again, if I'm not careful, my body can become dangerously cold, a problem known as Hypothermia.

Anyway, there are some things that I miss out on during the summer because when the weather gets hot, there's really no easy way to keep cool when you can't sweat. It sucks, but it's part of the injury that I have to live with. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.