Anyone have spinal stenosis?

[SkyWarn]

Just found out via MRI that I have mild to moderate central canal stenosis in the cervical area. I also have this in the lumbar spine. I was wondering if there are non-surgical treatments for this.

 

[Vince]

Just found out via MRI that I have mild to moderate central canal stenosis in the cervical area. I also have this in the lumbar spine. I was wondering if there are non-surgical treatments for this.

I've never seen a chiropractor or had acupuncture. It might be something you will want to look into. I have know people who talk highly of them.

 

[Jay_Tex]

What kind of symptoms do you have? I have cervical stenosis associated with a herniated disc between C5-C6. I was injured and began to have intense pain in my left shoulder about 2 weeks after the injury. I was expecting to need shoulder surgery, and was surprised to find that the pain was completely due to nerve compression in my neck. I was beginning to get some numbness in my fingers. I understand that any kind of numbness or paralysis needs to be taken seriously as it can become permanent.

I've had physical therapy as well as a cervical steroid injection. The most effective treatment by far has been at-home cervical traction using a Saunders cervical traction device (~$350). I still use the traction device from time to time if I have any flareups.

I bought a Teeter inversion table during my initial treatment, but it didn't really do anything for neck and shoulder issues. However, my back always felt great afterwards! I have intermittent back pain and it is often helpful. I’ve never had an MRI of my back, so I don’t know whether I have any stenosis there.

 

[Vince]

An evaluation of the effectiveness of acupuncture with seven acupoint-penetrating needles on cervical spondylosis

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture with seven acupoint-penetrating needles on patients with cervical spondylosis.Patients and methods: Sixty patients with cervical spondylosis were grouped using computer-generated random numbers. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[DorianGray]

I have some stenosis in lumbar spine also. Yoga or other similar activity will help you. Maintaining flexibility is critical.

 

[Another Great Day]

Just found out via MRI that I have mild to moderate central canal stenosis in the cervical area. I also have this in the lumbar spine. I was wondering if there are non-surgical treatments for this.

This may be similarly related - About 6 months ago my right hand began to go "numb". I had been seeing a chiropractor for over 20 years. I made an appointment with an anesthesiologist/interventional pain management specialist. The MRI indicated that I have Cervical radiculopathy. He prescribed physical therapy 2X per week for 2 months at an affiliated clinic. The exercises seemed simplistic, and I was doubtful if they would help. After a few weeks the numbness went away. I have lifted weights for the past 30 years and have always had a very "tight" upper back and neck. A person does not have to be a weightlifter to have this condition but I believe it is related. I would highly recommend this treatment, if it matches your symptoms and diagnosis.

 

[Runnerman]

What kind of symptoms do you have? I have cervical stenosis associated with a herniated disc between C5-C6. I was injured and began to have intense pain in my left shoulder about 2 weeks after the injury. I was expecting to need shoulder surgery, and was surprised to find that the pain was completely due to nerve compression in my neck. I was beginning to get some numbness in my fingers. I understand that any kind of numbness or paralysis needs to be taken seriously as it can become permanent.

I've had physical therapy as well as a cervical steroid injection. The most effective treatment by far has been at-home cervical traction using a Saunders cervical traction device (~$350). I still use the traction device from time to time if I have any flareups.

I bought a Teeter inversion table during my initial treatment, but it didn't really do anything for neck and shoulder issues. However, my back always felt great afterwards! I have intermittent back pain and it is often helpful. I’ve never had an MRI of my back, so I don’t know whether I have any stenosis there.

Kind of a side note to this. At the start of the pandemic, I slept funky on my pillow one night and woke up with a crick in my neck. Where I couldn‘t turn my head to one side. Over a few days that progressed to severe pain on the outside of my right shoulder with some numbness and tingling in my fingers. Doctor did an x-ray and they noted disc degeneration in my c5-c7. Scheduled an MRI that didn’t show any nerve impingement. Meantime, seeing a PT for a lower leg issue, he checked my shoulder and based on my limited range of motion and pain, he felt I had a torn rotator cuff. Given some time (a couple of months) and ibuprofen it eventually got better although it was excruciating at times. Couldn’t sleep well. Heating pads and hot baths helped. The gabapentin the doctor prescribed for nerve pain was useless but he wouldn’t prescribe anything else. Anyway, in my case it didn’t seem to be nerve impingement but I sure don’t want to go through that again.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I've had stenosis and buldging disc at C3/C4 for about 16 years.
Chiropractic and Physical therapy worked until now.
No disc left so on to artificial disc Replacement in a month or so.
Anyone who can fit the disc Replacement criteria should consider it as it beats fusion.

 

[Mountain Man]

I have stenosis in the lower back. Bands, dumbbells and yoga are what work for me. Added yoga last year and has been a game changer.

 

[jonezee2014]

I've got a pars defect in my L5, most likely from an injury from doing squats about 20 years ago. Problems were non existent for years about a month or so after the original injury until about 3 years ago - I happened to be on an AI at the time so some doctors speculate that may have had an impact. I did get a DEXA some time after that showing osteopenia most likely from AI use. I currently have all the similar symptoms mentioned above that come and go depending on the day. I've read that a reverse hyper machine can help with this though I have yet to find one in any gym that I've visited.

 

[locutus]

your symptoms?
i researched this extensively. start with this

now, he talks about cervical issues which you don't have, but the rule applies to all spine issues; here is the tldr of my research:
a) you can safely ignore most MRI findings
b) it is nearly impossible to pinpoint a MRI scan to a specific symptom (large disc herniations might be the exception when related to sciatica)
c) most surgical procedures will fuck you up (because b)
d) core strength + stretches are your friend (good PT)
e) good deep tissue massage
f) chiro's are semi-useless
g) for pain managment, DMSO gel works wonders
h) i got a lot more, just have to go to a meeting now

 

[DCPatriot]

I've been dealing with lumbar and cervical issues for almost 20yrs, it took almost 18 months of different tests/treatments/therapies before I was able to have an MRI. By the time I went in for the follow-up, I had lost 30-40% of my strength on the left side.
1 week later I was having a cervical disc replacement c5/c6.

My results were nothing short of amazing. From the time I woke up, the chronic pain was gone. The surgical area was sore for a few weeks. But that didn't even register on my pain scale by that point.
I took exactly 1 of the painkillers after I left the hospital. (courtesy of my wife's driving and 1 massive pothole)

That was 6yrs ago and my neck is 100%.

 

[Tinman]

My story is similar….I had numbness in my pointer right finger and eventually atrophy in my shoulder and triceps muscles a little over a year ago. But zero pain. I was ordered an MRI and nerve test and recommended to a spine specialist by my sports doctor…. Because of COVID it took me about 5 weeks to get both tests done and an appt with specialist. In the meantime I talked to a friend who had a similar issue who recommended traction. After a lot of research and reading I decided to try the “neck hammock”. I started using it immediately. At first 5 minutes a day then eventually up to 15…..Within a week the numbness in my finger went away. By the time I did the nerve test the doctor said there was zero limitations or effect in my nerves or muscles and by the time I finally saw the doctor I was gaining my strength back….the MRI did show issues between C4-8 including stenosis and the doctor wanted to fuse all three joints without ANY discussions about therapies, injections or replacement. I never went back….since my issues are mostly age and deterioration related the traction (along with yoga and massage as others have suggested) won’t fix my problem it has undoubtedly reduced and almost eliminated my symptoms….I do need to find another specialist and have it checked again to be safe but I highly recommend some sort of traction/stretching of the cervical spine!