SPINAL STENOSIS

Spinal Stenosis

Skeletal System: Spinal Stenosis

Spinal Stenosis

Your spine, or backbone, protects your spinal cord and allows you to stand and bend. Spinal stenosis causes narrowing in your spine. The narrowing can occur at the center of your spine, in the canals branching off your spine and/or between the vertebrae, the bones of the spine. The narrowing puts pressure on your nerves and spinal cord and can cause pain.

Discussion

Spinal stenosis occurs mostly in people older than 50. Younger people with a spine injury or a narrow spinal canal are also at risk. Diseases such as arthritis and scoliosis can cause spinal stenosis, too. Symptoms might appear gradually or not at all. They include pain in your neck or back, numbness, weakness or pain in your arms or legs, and foot problems. Treatments include medications, physical therapy, braces and surgery.

Causes

Spinal stenosis may be caused by:

Arthritis involving the spine, usually in middle-aged or elderly people

Herniated or slipped disk

Injury that causes pressure on the nerve roots or the spinal cord itself

Defect in the spine that was present from birth (congenital defect)

Tumors in the spine

Paget's disease of bone

Achondroplasia

Symptoms

Often, symptoms will be present and gradually worsen over time. Most often, symptoms will be on one side of the body or the other.

Numbness, cramping, or pain in the back, buttocks, thighs, or calves, or in the neck, shoulders, or arms

Weakness of a portion of a leg or arm

Symptoms are more likely to be present or get worse when you stand or walk upright. They will often lessen or disappear when you sit down or lean forward. Most people with spinal stenosis cannot walk for a long period of time.

More serious symptoms include:

Difficulty or imbalance when walking

Problems controlling urine or bowel movements

Problems urinating or having a bowel movement

Exams and Tests

During the physical exam, your doctor will try to ...