Spine Stenosis

What is spine stenosis? My mother was just diagnosed with it and I wanted to understand what spine stenosis was all about. We just thought that she had a bad back that could be fixed with a heating pad and some pain medications. Apparently we were wrong... There is a lot to learn about spine stenosis.

My mother has osteoporosis and now has been diagnosed with spine stenosis. They do not know if the stenosis is congenital or if it developed over time. The orthopedic clinic we went to told us that spine stenosis was a narrowing or stenosis of the spinal canal. This can lead to pressure on the nerves and decreased space between the discs in the back. From there you can have symptoms of pain, numbness, throbbing, in the back or legs. My mother has been experiencing more and more discomfort over the past few years. She fell a few weeks ago and that is what brought us to the doctor and is why she found out about spine stenosis.

At this point the doctors have decided to treat the spine stenosis with non-invasive therapies. They do not feel that surgery is warranted at this time and they have opted to treat her with a course of physical therapy and pain medicines. They doctor feels that by strengthening back muscles she will be able to receive some pain relief because her body will be able to support itself better. She also has the option of epidural steroid injections if the pain worsens or if she needs them in order to complete the physical therapy routine.

At this point we are thrilled that our mother does not have to go thru surgery to treat her spine stenosis. At her age I would be uncomfortable seeing her go thru all of the risks associated with surgery. It is our hope that she does well with her course of treatment and is able to find some relief from this spine stenosis and its effects. The fall was scary because with her osteoporosis she very well could have broken a hip or a leg. Finding out that she has spine stenosis gives her the ability to deal with it and now she can focus on building her muscles and that will make her less likely to fall down again. I am at the point where I think I should be checked because I also have a bad back.