Did You Know?

If you have been told that you need surgery for spinal stenosis, what is a better minimally invasive surgical option?

  • Endoscopic Foraminotomy
    Spinal Stenosis occurs when there is a narrowing of the spaces in your spine. This surgery is used to remove debris and only requires a small incision on the back. For more information about how an Endoscopic Foraminotomy procedure is performed click here.
  • Spinal Fusion
    This surgery is a major surgery where your surgeon would fuse together two or more vertebrae in your spine to restrict movement in that area. The downside to this surgery is that it can cause the vertebrae above, and below to become weakened. Try again
  • Laminectomy
    This is an aggressive surgery that would remove a significant amount of the backside of your vertebrae to increase the space in your spinal canal. Unfortunately because you are removing so much bone it can destabilize the spine and you may require a spinal fusion at the same time stabilize it. Try again

What is Spinal Stenosis?

Stenosis means narrowing in medicine; Spinal stenosis refers to the narrowing of the spinal canal. The most common causes of spinal stenosis are wear, tear, or degeneration of the spine. This condition becomes more common in those over the age of 50. Spinal Stenosis can impact all areas of the spine, or it can be limited to one area such as the neck or lower back.

Symptoms of a Spinal Stenosis

Symptoms of spinal stenosis are pain that is mild to severe in nature, muscle weakness, and tingling. Where a patient feel these symptoms will depend on what area of their spine has become narrowed. If they have cervical spinal stenosis they may have symptoms in their neck and arms, while if they have lumbar spinal stenosis they would have symptoms in their lower back and legs.

What Causes Spinal Stenosis?

Spinal Stenosis begins with spinal disc changes such as tearing, bulging, scarring, herniating, and narrowing. Gradually, the spinal facet joint becomes inflamed, the ligaments in the spinal canal and nerve holes become overgrown, and bone spurs form on the vertebrae and facets. These new growths compress the spinal cord and spinal nerves causing pain.

When a patient has back pain it is imperative that they seek medical treatment, as many of the causes of spinal stenosis will worsen over time; the more damage that has occurred the harder it becomes to treat. If a patient allows the condition to progress there is a lower chances of successfully treating their pain with non-surgical treatments or therapies.

Treatment Options for Spinal Stenosis

Conservative Spinal Stenosis treatments should be first attempted for 6 weeks. Treatments include physical therapy, exercise, medication, chiropractic adjustments, or acupuncture. This is because many times pain will be reduced using these methods if done correctly with the assistance of a doctor or physical therapist.

When conservative spinal stenosis treatments fail to reduce a patient’s pain and/or other symptoms an endoscopic foraminotomy and or discectomy may be required. These are minimally invasive surgeries performed to remove any debris that may be clogging up the patient’s spine reducing pressure on the spinal cord or nerves. To learn more about these procedures and find out if you may be a candidate please click here.

How Can We Help

Atlantic Spinal Care has been successfully treating Spinal Stenosis in hundreds of patients every year. If you are interested in learning more about how Atlantic Spinal Care can help you relieve the pain you suffer as a result of Spinal Stenosis please consider one or more of the following options: