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If you’ve been experiencing tingling and numbness in your neck or back, you could have spinal stenosis. Many people don’t realize they have spinal stenosis until it’s severe, which can heighten the need for surgery.
Our team at Genesis Pain & Regenerative Medicine wants you to know that you should always seek treatment for spinal stenosis and that we have a variety of treatment methods that can be catered to you and your health needs.
What is spinal stenosis?
Spinal stenosis is a condition where the part of your backbone that contains your spinal cord and nerves narrows and becomes compressed. Spinal stenosis can occur in your lower back (lumbar spinal stenosis) or your neck (cervical spinal stenosis).
Symptoms of spinal stenosis can include pain, tingling, and numbness which is typical when your nerves become irritated. If you have lumbar spinal stenosis, it can cause back pain and sciatica.
Spinal stenosis develops slowly over time, so you may not realize you have it before it becomes severe or it’s seen on X-rays.
What causes spinal stenosis?
Spinal stenosis is most often caused by osteoarthritis, which can cause a lot of wear and tear in your body; although, it can also be brought on by the ligaments in your back thickening or by bulging discs in your vertebrae.
If you’re over the age of 50 or have scoliosis, you’re at a much higher risk for developing spinal stenosis.
Treatment for spinal stenosis
There are different treatment options for spinal stenosis depending on how severe your symptoms are or how developed your condition is. Typically, the most conservative treatment option is tried first before moving to more drastic measures like surgery.
If your symptoms are mild, you can try using a rotation of heat and ice packs or over-the-counter pain medications to give you some pain relief. A solid exercise routine is also a helpful way to strengthen the muscles that support your spine while also relieving pain.
If you feel these methods aren’t quite enough on their own, you can talk to your provider about getting some steroid injections or some other minimally invasive treatment options to help manage your pain.
Should your symptoms become severe or intolerable, surgery may need to be considered to help you regain some quality of life. A surgical procedure will remove anything that’s crowding your spinal canal and pinching your nerves.
Don’t wait until your spinal stenosis gets severe to seek treatment; taking action now could help you avoid surgery.
If you’d like more information on treatment methods for spinal stenosis, call Genesis Pain & Regenerative Medicine located in Colleyville, Texas at 817-482-0188 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.