Spinal Stenosis

Symptoms

The primary symptom of spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine is pain or other sensation s in one or both legs. Stenosis can cause difficulty walking even relatively short distances, but this problem is relieved with a brief rest. In the cervical spine, pain or numbness radiates into the arms.

Description

The spinal canal is the passageway where the spinal cord and nerve roots reside. Spinal stenosis cord and nerve roots reside. Spinal stenosis results when the canal is narrowed. The narrowing may result from disc protrusions or herniations, thickening of the ligaments within the canal, movement of the vertebral bodies or osteophytes (bone spurs) growing into the canal.

Treatments for Spinal Stenosis

Non-surgical options include medications, physical therapy, aerobic conditioning and epidural injections. Indications for surgery include pain that fails to improve satisfactorily with non-surgically treatment. Surgical treatment generally consists of spinal decompression to enlarge the spinal canal and relieve the pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots.