Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of one or more areas of the spinal canal —most often in your neck or lower back. This narrowing can put pressure on your spinal cord or on the spinal nerves exiting the spine. Spinal stenosis symptoms, depending on the location in your spine, include cramping, pain, or numbness in your legs, back, neck, shoulders, or arms; or a loss of sensation in your extremities, and sometimes problems with bladder or bowel function. Spinal stenosis is most commonly caused by progressive wear of the spinal components over time, and it’s important to find a doctor who specializes in spinal stenosis treatment in order to determine the best plan for you. Conservative spinal stenosis treatment may include a variety of medications, physical therapy/Chiropractic treatment, injection therapy, a Tens unit and supportive bracing. In cases that have failed conservative treatment, spinal stenosis surgery is often successful in relieving symptoms. As with other conditions, there are a variety of minimally invasive surgical approaches.
Spinal stenosis doesn’t always cause symptoms. However, one can develop a variety of different symptoms depending on the location and severity of the stenosis. These symptoms often start gradually and grow worse over time. The most common spinal stenosis symptoms include:
- Pain or cramping in your legs, arms, hands or feet.
- Numbness, weakness or tingling in your legs, arms, or feet.
- Pain in your neck and shoulders. This is likely to occur when the nerves in your neck (cervical spine) are compressed.
- Difficulty walking including loss of strength or heaviness in the legs (claudication.)
- Loss of balance. Pressure on the spinal cord can affect the nerves that control your balance, resulting in clumsiness or a tendency to fall.
- Loss of bowel or bladder function (cauda equina syndrome). In severe cases, nerves to your bladder or bowel may be affected, leading to partial or complete urinary or fecal incontinence. If you experience either of these problems, seek medical care right away.
Spinal Stenosis, or the narrowing of the spinal canal can occur at any age and is often progressive over time. Our minimally invasive techniques are highly successful in diminishing the pain caused by this common disorder. We can enter through incisions less than an inch long and enlarge the spinal canal by removing the problematic disc, bone spurs, thickened ligament and other causes of the narrowing. Because we do not use traditional retractors, we minimize trauma to the area so you can get back to life as quickly as possible.Why Minimally Invasive?