Spinal stenosis is a degenerative spinal condition that affects many people throughout the country, including those of us way up north. Spinal stenosis commonly becomes a problem as we age, and the symptoms may not become evident until the joints of the spine have degenerated a significant amount. When a patient has spinal stenosis, parts of the vertebrae making up the spinal column degenerate and reduce the space that is available to the spinal cord and nerve roots. This leads to additional pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots, eventually progressing to pain and dysfunction in the areas innervated by that part of the spinal cord. The most common location to experience the symptoms of spinal stenosis is in the lower back and legs, though it is also possible to have stenosis of the neck that causes arm symptoms. Patients suffering from spinal stenosis commonly experience pain and weakness in the low back and legs aggravated by standing and walking.

Spinal stenosis can be a persistent problem for patients, and is the most commonly cited reason for lumbar surgery in the United States. Often patients do not realize that non-surgical treatment of spinal stenosis is a practical and cost-effective option for managing their symptoms. Conservative care options including therapeutic exercise and manual therapy techniques, such as those employed by an experienced chiropractic physician, can be life changing for patients suffering from spinal stenosis. Here at Excellence in Health Chiropractic, Dr. Ross and his team of healthcare professionals utilize a broad scope of effective treatment modalities to deal with spinal stenosis including: manual therapy, flexion distraction therapy, intermittent traction, massage, and supervised therapeutic exercises.

In fact, a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the leading and most well respected healthcare journals in the world, compares the effectiveness of surgery compared to conservative care for the management of spinal stenosis. The researchers set up their study using 169 patients suffering from spinal stenosis. 87 of these patients were randomly assigned to the surgical group and 82 were randomly assigned to the conservative care group. They found that after a study period of two years, the patients from the surgical group and the patients from the conservative care group experienced the same positive outcomes in pain reduction and functional improvement. This result is especially important to consider, as the study also found that in the surgical group 33 of the patients experienced complications such as infections or the need for additional surgeries (Delitto et al., 2015).

Conservative care is a safe and effective alternative to surgery for the treatment of spinal stenosis. If you are suffering from back pain, leg pain, and weakness associated with standing or walking, don't continue to suffer needlessly. Make an appointment with Dr. Ross today for a thorough exam and treatment consultation. We'll set you up with a personalized treatment plan to assist you with getting out of pain, and to help you once again participate in the activities you enjoy. Take charge of your health and get back to living the life you deserve; and as always, we wish you excellence in health.

Resources:

• Delitto, A. Piva, S. Moore, C. Fritz, J. Wisniewski, S. Josbeno, D. Fye, M. Welch, W. (2015). Surgery Versus Nonsurgical Treatment of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 162(7): 465-473.

Link to Abstract:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25844995