The spinal cord can be damaged as the result of a traumatic injury. In the majority of spinal cord injuries, the backbone or vertebral column pinches the spinal cord, leading to bruising or swelling. Sometimes the spinal cord can even be torn. Once the spinal cord is injured, the nerves from the injury site do not send messages between the brain and the parts of the body that are injured as they did previously. There are different types and levels of spinal cord injury and different levels of complexity. However, any damage to the spinal cord is a very complex injury and requires treatment with spinal specialists and neurologists/neurosurgeons to try to achieve the greatest amount of functioning possible.