Spinal Stenosis Symptoms

What Is Spinal Stenosis?

The spine, a row of 26 bones in your back, allows you to stand up straight and bend over. The spine also protects your spinal cord from being hurt. In people with spinal stenosis, the spine is narrowed in one or more of three parts:

• The space at the center of the spine
• The canals where nerves branch out from the spine
• The space between vertebrae (the bones of the spine).

This narrowing puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves and can cause pain.

Spinal stenosis symptoms

Generally speaking, the various types of spinal stenosis produce similar symptoms. Leg pain (sciatica) often with some low back pain, leg numbness and tingling, with limitations, in walking are together the most common symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis.

Leg pain with walking (claudication) can be caused by either arterial circulatory insufficiency (vascular claudication) or from spinal stenosis (neurogenic or pseudo-claudication). Leg pain from either condition will go away with rest, but with spinal stenosis the patient usually has to sit down for a few minutes to ease the leg and often low back pain, whereas leg pain from vascular claudication will go away if the patient simply stops

How Is Spinal Stenosis Diagnosed?

To diagnose spinal stenosis, your doctor will ask about your medical history and conduct a physical exam. Your doctor may also order one or more tests, such as:

• X rays
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - a test that uses radio waves to look at your spine
• Computerized axial tomography (CAT) - a series of x rays that give your doctor a detailed image of your spine
• Myelogram - a test in which the doctor injects liquid dye into your spinal column
• Bone scan - a test in which you are given a shot of radioactive substance that shows where bone is breaking down or being formed.

When Should Surgery Be Considered?

Your doctor will likely suggest nonsurgical treatment first unless you have:

• Symptoms that get in the way of walking
• Problems with bowel or bladder function
• Problems with your nervous system.

Your doctor will take many factors into account in deciding if surgery is right for you. These include:

• The success of nonsurgical treatments
• The extent of the pain
• Your preferences.

Who Treats Spinal Stenosis?

Because spinal stenosis has many causes and symptoms, you may require treatment from doctors who specialize in certain aspects of the condition. Based on your symptoms, your doctor may refer you to:

• Rheumatologists (doctors who treat arthritis and related disorders)
• Neurologists and neurosurgeons (doctors who treat diseases of the nervous system)
• Orthopedic surgeons (doctors who treat problems with the bones, joints, and ligaments)
• Physical therapists.

What Are Some Alternative Therapies for Spinal Stenosis?

Alternative (or complementary) therapies are diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. Some examples of these therapies used to treat spinal stenosis follow:

• Chiropractic treatment—This treatment is based on the philosophy that restricted movement in the spine reduces proper function and may cause pain. Chiropractors may manipulate (adjust) the spine to restore normal spinal movement. They may also employ traction, a pulling force, to help increase space between the vertebrae and reduce pressure on affected nerves. Some people report that they benefit from chiropractic care. Research thus far has shown that chiropractic treatment is about as effective as conventional, nonoperative treatments for acute back pain.
• Acupuncture—This treatment involves stimulating certain places on the skin by a variety of techniques, in most cases by manipulating thin, solid, metallic needles that penetrate the skin. Research has shown that low back pain is one area in which acupuncture has benefited some people.

More research is needed before the effectiveness of these or other possible alternative therapies can be definitively stated. Health care providers may suggest these therapies in addition to more conventional treatments.