Is Spinal Stenosis Reversible?

You’re having back or neck pain. Sometimes the pain goes down your leg. If you’re also experiencing numbness, tingling, and/or weakness, the problem may be spinal stenosis. 

At Peninsula Orthopedic Associates, our board-certified orthopedic surgeons and physical medicine physicians treat many cases of spinal stenosis. 

If you’re diagnosed with this condition, your spine has undergone degenerative changes. Your spinal canal has narrowed, placing undue pressure on nerves that branch out from your spinal cord. 

Spinal stenosis is a fairly common diagnosis. Researchers say that almost all adults experience some degree of degenerative change in the spine by age 50. 

Can spinal stenosis be reversed? 

Because spinal stenosis involves degenerative changes in your spinal or cervical bones, it can’t be reversed. But we can help you manage the condition so you can still have a full life. 

Treatments for spinal stenosis 

We offer a range of treatments for spinal stenosis. Here are some of them:

Maintaining good posture

You may think your posture is fine, but it may not be. Poor posture places excess pressure on your cervical and spinal nerves. 

We refer you to physical therapy to help you learn good sitting and standing postures. We assess whether your posture is contributing to your spinal stenosis. 

Good posture helps reduce spinal stenosis symptoms. When you’re standing, your weight should be on the balls of your feet. Your head should sit over your neck. It shouldn’t be pushed forward in front of your body. 

Look around you and look at yourself in the mirror. You’ll see many adults with their necks jutting forward in front of their bodies. Are you one of them? 

In today’s connected world, many people work at a computer for hours during the day, and they tend to lean forward, hunching over the computer. This creates muscle strain and can lead to spinal misalignment. 

Good sitting posture goes a long way toward alleviating spinal stenosis symptoms. When sitting, don’t cross your legs. Sit up straight and don’t lean forward. Your chair should meet ergonomic standards and provide lumbar support for the curve in your lower back. 

Physical therapy 

Physical therapy is a gold standard of treatment for spinal stenosis. Teaching you how to maintain good posture is just one of the tasks our physical therapy team performs. 

We may start with a gentle massage to ease tight muscles and improve joint function. We also teach you ways to ease pressure on your compressed cervical or spinal nerves. You learn key exercises to increase mobility in your spinal joints and surrounding muscles. 

Your back and core muscles are likely weak. These muscles help support the joints in your spine. If you’ve stopped exercising, your arm and leg muscles may also be weak. Strengthening all of these muscles helps ease pressure on your spinal joints. 

We teach you specific strengthening exercises during your appointments, and you need to perform them as directed at home every day in order to experience relief. Doing them only during your appointment won’t bring about the change you want. 

Ice and heat 

Icing your back or neck helps relieve pain and inflammation. Moist heat relaxes tight muscles and improves blood flow to the area. 

Medication

Pain medication is a temporary solution and shouldn’t be used long term. But you may need medication during a flare-up. If you sometimes experience painful muscle spasms, we may prescribe muscle relaxants to ease your discomfort. The antiseizure medication gabapentin also relieves nerve pain. 

Injections 

If you’re in severe pain when you come into the office, we may administer a steroid injection to relieve pinched nerves. We limit the number of steroid injections, because too many can damage cartilage and other soft tissue. 

Surgery 

If conservative treatments haven’t worked, we may recommend surgery. We remove a part of your vertebra that’s narrowing your spinal canal and pinching the nerves. You may have a bone spur or other obstruction. 

Call one of our convenient offices in Daly City, Los Gatos, or Menlo Park, California, or request an appointment through our online portal today if you have back or neck pain.