Paralysis could be one of the most terrible conditions that a human body can be afflicted with. A paralyzed person loses the capacity of voluntary movement in some part of the body, like the hands, legs or torso; and hence becomes an invalid. The most terrible aspect of paralysis is when the person has to become overtly dependent on someone else to accomplish the most routine of tasks.

Minor paralyses can be treated and the person can become healthy again (in this case it means that the person can move all his or her body parts in a normal manner again). But treatment of major paralysis, such as loss of movement in the hands, legs or the whole torso, can be a very long and arduous process. it might require a lot of cooperation from the patient as well as the family members. Some people afflicted with paralysis remained paralyzed all through their lives, as tissue and muscle wasting can cause irreparable damage to the body.


Paralysis is defined as the loss of muscle movement and coordination in some part of the body. The loss of movement of muscles occur in systems of muscles, such as hand muscles, leg muscles, facial muscles, etc. leading to paralysis in that particular region.

The loss of voluntary muscle movement is accompanied by numbness, or loss of sensation, in the affected part. Due to this, the person does not feel any pain or climatic changes like heat, cold, etc. in the paralyzed part of the body.

After some time, due to paralysis, the circulation and other metabolic activities of the affected part may come to a stop. This could cause disuse atrophy, which could change the shape of the affected part. Prolonged disuse atrophy could lead to ‘death’ of the part, and the person may lose the use of it permanently, even after the condition of paralysis is treated.


Depending on where the paralysis has occurred, it can be classified in the following types:-

• Monoplegia, in which only one limb – hand or leg – is affected
• Diplegia, in which both the limbs are affected
• Paraplegia, in which both the trunk and the legs are affected
• Hemiplegia, in which only one side of the body is affected
• Quadriplegia, in which the trunk and all the four limbs are affected

Paralysis is very easily diagnosable because its symptoms are too apparent. The following are the common symptoms of paralysis:-

There is loss of tactile inputs and outputs in the affected part of the body. That means, the person cannot feel it when something touches him/her or even when someone else touches him/her. The person also cannot feel pain in the affected part. In fact, it has been said that the most painful aspect of paralysis is the painlessness. Numbness to weather is common. The person cannot feel heat or cold. There could be tingling sensations in the unaffected parts of the body. There is generally an impairment of vision. The person becomes incontinent


If paralysis lasts for a long time, then the biggest danger is that of the ‘death’ of the affected part. Due to the constant depletion of blood from the affected part, the part may become seriously damaged. As a result the muscles and tissues in that part will also get wasted, leading to disuse atrophy, as mentioned earlier. In quadriplegia, the most serious form of paralysis, the person’s body becomes like the mere ‘skin and bones’ within a few months of the affliction.

Speech impairment is also a very common byproduct of paralysis. Along with speech impairment, there could be loss of auditory senses and visual senses as well. If the person is paralyzed on one side of the body (hemiplegia), then there is a great chance that the eye on that side would lose its power of sight