Spinal stenosis is a common condition caused by the narrowing of your spinal canal. It’s possible to have this spine condition and not know it, because it may not cause any symptoms during the early stages. However, when symptoms appear, they usually worsen over time.
At LiveWell Pain Management in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, our physical medicine and interventional pain management physician, Dr. Nora Taha, understands the gradual progression of spinal stenosis and how it can lead to chronic neck or back pain.
But there’s no need to suffer. We offer many innovative treatments that can help. Here, we tell you about spinal stenosis and the treatments that can ease your suffering.
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the open space in your spinal column. The series of bones that make up your spine protect your spinal cord and serve as an exit point for the spinal nerves that travel to the rest of your body.
When there’s narrowing in your spine, there’s not enough space for your spinal cord and spinal nerves. Irritation or compression of these nerves may cause radiating back or neck pain.
Spinal stenosis may affect any part of your spine, but it most often occurs in your cervical (neck) or lumbar (lower back) spine. You can develop spinal stenosis at any time, but it’s more common as you get older because of the age-related changes that affect the structure of your spine (degenerative disc disease, arthritis, bone spurs).
Spinal stenosis symptoms may not occur at first. But when they do, symptoms generally worsen over time because of the continued degenerative process. However, spinal stenosis symptoms vary and may come and go.
With spinal stenosis you may have:
Spinal stenosis may also cause sciatica, which is a nerve pain condition that causes electric shock-like sensations that travel from your lower back into your buttocks, hip, and back of your leg on one side of your body.
In severe cases, spinal stenosis may cause loss of bowel or bladder control.
How can we help ease your spinal stenosis suffering? That depends on the location of your spine condition, the severity of your symptoms, and your overall health.
Initial treatment includes medical interventions like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), physical therapy, and heat and cold therapy. We may also try epidural steroid injections, which reduce inflammation and the resulting pain.
For our patients with chronic back pain from lumbar spinal stenosis, we may recommend the MILD® (minimally invasive lumbar decompression) Procedure. During this procedure, we remove excess ligament tissue in your lumbar spine, increasing space in your spinal canal.
We perform the MILD Procedure using a local anesthetic and/or light sedation. Though recovery varies, it’s possible to resume your usual activities the day after this procedure. The goal of the mild Procedure is to reduce your pain so you can stand and walk for longer periods of time, improving your quality of life.
Spinal stenosis pain worsens over time. If your pain is so severe you can only walk short distances, we can help. Call our office today or request an appointment online.
