How to care for mild spinal stenosis

[nomadsally]

Last week I found out that I have mild spinal stenosis.  I want to know how best to live with this and also know what surgery could lie in the future.  


This discussion is related to Laminectomy vs. Laminoplasty for Cervical Myelopathy w/OPLL.

[nomadsally]

Thank you for the information.  I am having physical therapy at the present time which is alleviating the slight discomfort in my groin area that I have had infrequently.  

I believe my physician stated that the stenosis is probably due to intervertebral disc prolapse.  

Nomadsally

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

You may not have to live with the stenosis. If you can find out the cause behind stenosis, which is usually cord compression, this condition can be effectively treated. Surgery is the curative treatment of choice in many cases. In some mild cases, physical therapy for the spinal condition may improve it.

An important consideration is the extent of the stenosis. Some stenosis may be insignificant, if there are no symptoms. But usually this does not happen. You do get some or the other symptoms of stenosis.

The compression of the cord could be due to intervertebral disc prolapse, some tumor, growth or cyst in the spinal column or an intramedullary / extramedullary tumor of the spinal cord itself.

I think the best approach should be to know the cause of the stenosis and discuss the options with either a neurosurgeon or a spine surgeon.

Regards