Spinal stenosis refers to narrowing of the spinal canal and or the nerve opening canals of the spine. The narrowing is most often due to bony overgrowth or arthritic spurring, that can compress the nerves and /or spinal cord traveling through the opening. Spinal stenosis occurs most commonly in the cervical and lumbar spine. Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis will usually notice more leg pain after walking and bending backwards. Rest and stooping forward will often relieve the leg pain, often referred to as a ‘shopping cart’ sign. Diagnosis is usually made by history, examination and advanced I aging like CT or MRI. Spinal Stenosis can effectively be treated conservatively with chiropractic medicine and physical therapy. Some patients will need interventional injections like epidurals to alleviate the pain and inflammation. Specialists at Mather also perform minimally invasive procedures such as the MILD procedure and Vertiflex. Lastly, sometimes spine surgery is needed to decompress the spine when all non-operative care has not helped resolve the pain.
