Spinal Stenosis Is Common: Are You at Risk?

There are many roads to back and neck pain, but spinal stenosis is one of the more common. By the numbers, about 20% of adults over the age of 60 show signs of spinal stenosis and experts predict that condition will affect about 18 million Americans over the course of this decade.

If you want to figure out whether you’re in the line of fire when it comes to spinal stenosis, we can say with some certainty that most everyone is as they age.

For a more detailed explanation of your risks for spinal stenosis, board-certified pain management experts Dr. Maziar Massrour and Dr. Naveen Reddy at Apex Pain Specialists present the following information. Plus, we dive into some effective and innovative solutions for symptomatic spinal stenosis.

Spinal stenosis: A narrowing in your spinal canal

Your spine not only supplies the foundational support for your entire body, it’s also the primary passageway that connects your central and peripheral nervous systems — your spinal canal.

When you develop spinal stenosis, a narrowing occurs in your spinal canal, which can crowd nerves that use this passageway and compress any of the 31 pairs of spinal nerve roots that exit your spinal canal at each vertebral segment.

The good news is that most people who have spinal stenosis — about 80% — are unaware of the narrowing in their spinal canal and have no symptoms.

The bad news is that for the 20% of people who do develop symptomatic spinal stenosis, life can be challenging as the condition can lead to considerable pain and discomfort.

Spinal stenosis most often develops in areas of your spine that move the most: your neck and lower back. Depending on where the narrowing occurs, you can feel localized pain in that area, as well as symptoms that travel into your upper or lower extremities. These symptoms include pain as well as numbness, tingling, and weakness.

Risk factors for spinal stenosis

The reason why we say that most everyone is at risk for spinal stenosis is because it's largely a degenerative condition. The narrowing is often caused by wear and tear along your spine that leads to:

• Bone spurs due to arthritis
• Thickening ligaments
• Bulging or herniated discs
• Fractures or injuries along your spine
• Tumors, though these are rare

If spinal stenosis strikes younger people, the cause is usually a congenital issue, such as poor spine formation in fetal development. 

If you consider that 95% of people have degenerative changes in their spine by the time they reach the age of 50, you can see why the primary risk factor for spinal stenosis is age.

There are other factors that can lead to premature stenosis and degeneration in your spine, such as:

• Carrying excess pounds
• Previous injuries to your spine
• Overworking your spine, such as a job that requires heavy lifting

Additionally, if you have a family history of spinal stenosis you may be more at risk.

How we treat spinal stenosis

If you do develop spinal stenosis and it leads to symptoms, the good news is that we offer effective treatment options that can help you move more freely.

In the earlier stages, we might suggest one or more of the following:

• Physical therapy
• Non-opioid Pain medications
• Epidural steroid injections

If your spinal stenosis fails to respond to these efforts, we can be more aggressive with spinal cord stimulation, a neuromodulation technique that disrupts pain signaling, or referral to a spine surgeon.

If you have more questions about spinal stenosis, please don’t hesitate to call our office in Chandler, Arizona, at 480-820-7246 or book an appointment online today.