Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of one or more spaces within your spine. Less space within your spine reduces the amount of space available for your spinal cord and nerves that branch off your spinal cord. A tightened space can cause the spinal cord or nerves to become irritated, compressed or pinched, which can lead to back pain and sciatica.

Spinal stenosis usually develops slowly over time. It is most commonly caused by osteoarthritis or “wear-and-tear” changes that naturally occur in your spine as you age. For this reason, you may not have any symptoms for a long time even though some changes might be seen on X-rays or other imaging tests if taken for another reason. Depending on where and how severe your spinal stenosis is, you might feel pain, numbing, tingling and/or weakness in your neck, back, arms, legs, hands or feet.

Spinal stenosis can occur anywhere along the spine but most commonly occurs in two areas:

Lower back (lumbar canal stenosis).
Neck (cervical spinal stenosis).

Lumbar canal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal or the tunnels through which nerves and other structures communicate with that canal. Narrowing of the spinal canal usually occurs due to changes associated with aging that decrease the size of the canal, including the movement of one of the vertebrae out of alignment.

The narrowing of the spinal canal or the side canals that protect the nerves often results in a pinching of the nerve root of the spinal cord. The nerves become increasingly irritated as the diameter of the canal becomes narrower.