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What is spinal stenosis symptoms: causes, treatments, and surgery.

 


The word stenosis means the narrowing of a passage in the body. So, in spinal stenosis, the space in the spinal canal is narrowed and that can put pressure on the nerves which travel from it. People with this condition experience pain, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness. The narrowing usually occurs in the neck and lumbar region. Some other names of spinal stenosis are pseudo claudication, central spinal stenosis, and foraminal spinal stenosis. 

What is spinal stenosis symptoms:

The spinal stenosis symptoms are not seen if the narrowing is too small. Too much narrowing will put stress on nerves and create these symptoms:

  • Pain in the neck and lumbar region
  • Pain might radiate in the arms and hands 
  • Pain can also spread in the legs, buttock, and thigh region and is termed as sciatica. 
  • Numbness in the arm and leg
  • Weakness in the body and may also create bowel or bladder dysfunction in rare cases. 
The spinal stenosis symptoms aggravate with time. 

Types of spinal stenosis;

Cervical Stenosis: In cervical stenosis, the spinal canal in the neck region is narrowed. 

Lumbar Stenosis: Lumbar stenosis is the common condition of narrowing the spinal canal in the lumbar region. 

What are the causes of spinal stenosis: 
Bony Overgrowth: Bone spurs are formed from the spinal osteoarthritis that grows into the spinal canal and puts pressure on the nerves along with narrowing the space. 

Thickening of Spinal Ligaments: Ligaments hold the bones together and if these ligaments become thick and hard, then these can protrude into the spinal canal. Sometimes calcium deposits are formed in the ligament and intrude in nearby nerves.  

Trauma and Injuries: Sometimes car accidents and other injuries dislocate the bone and vertebrae. These dislocated bones cause spinal fracture and develop spinal stenosis. 

Scoliosis: Scoliosis is the abnormal posture in which the spine is curved.  Pressure is created on the spinal nerve due to scoliosis and can develop spinal stenosis symptoms. 

Spinal Tumors: Sometimes abnormal tissue grows in the spinal canal and spinal cord. These abnormal growth cause inflammation, and changes in the surrounding. 

Some other conditions which can lead to spinal stenosis symptoms are: 

  • Paget's disease of bone
  • Osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis
  • Disk slip and degenerative disk disease
How can we prevent the occurring of spinal stenosis symptoms: 

We can reduce the risk of developing spinal stenosis symptoms by:

Maintaining a healthy weight: Being overweight can put pressure on the back and nerves so maintaining a healthy weight will reduce the risk of developing lumbar spinal stenosis symptoms. 

Doing Regular Exercise: Exercise will make our body flexible and also the spine. Exercise will also increase the strength of lower back muscles and thus reduce the risk of lumbar spinal stenosis. Some of the useful exercises are walking, cycling, and swimming. 

Maintaining a Good Posture: Good posture is important as it maintains and supports the natural curves. Bad posture will lead to scoliosis and causes spinal stenosis symptoms. 

Treatment of Spinal Stenosis: If a person is diagnosed with spinal stenosis and still has good mobility then prime treatment will be on alleviating symptoms and this can be achieved by: 

Medicines: NSAIDs ( Non-steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs) will ease the pain.
 
Injections: Applying cortisone injection will shorten the swelling. 

Physiotherapy:

The motive of physiotherapy in this condition is to decrease pain and to improve normal activities. Some physiotherapy techniques applied in spinal stenosis symptoms are: 
  • Stretching exercise for decreasing the stress on joints.
  • Performing strengthening exercise
  • Help in making and maintaining better posture.
  • Applying a heating pad will increase blood circulation.
  • Applying a cold pad or ice therapy to mitigate the pain.
  • Manual therapy and massage will increase the range of motion. 
  • Cycling and walking will make the better physical condition of a patient. 
Spinal Stenosis Surgery: If the patient's condition does not improve with the above-mentioned treatment and is still has spinal stenosis symptoms and is facing difficulty in performing normal routine .i.e. bladder dysfunction and unable to walk, then surgery is recommended. 




Conclusion:
This article gives the basic detail of spinal stenosis which is the narrowing of spaces in the spinal canal creating pressure on the nerves. The major spinal stenosis symptoms are pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness felt in the body. Causes are trauma, spinal injuries, and ligament thickening. The treatment includes medicines, injections, physiotherapy, and surgery in case of not being treated with the first three. Hope you get some more information about spinal stenosis by reading this article. You can ask the question or add more detail about the topic in the comment box. 

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