Spinal stenosis symptoms differ depending on the location of the stenosis. Spinal stenosis symptoms may not occur until later on in life as the most common cause for this condition is the aging process.
Your spinal canal can be narrowing over a long period of time, and you will not experience spinal stenosis symptoms until the narrowing is severe. Or, spinal stenosis symptoms can come on suddenly due to an injury or bulging/herniated disc.
Cervical Spinal Stenosis Symptoms
- Legs – Pressure on the spinal canal in your neck can affect nerves and muscles in your legs. This can cause changes in your walking, such as jerkiness or loss of muscle power (spasticity).
- Hands – You could experience numbness in your hands and/or clumsiness with writing or typing. You may have troubles gripping and letting go of items because the muscles along the inside edge of your palm and fingers can become weak.
- Shoulders – When your spinal cord is compressed in the upper section of your neck, your shoulder blade muscles and deltoid muscles (those that cover the top and outside of the shoulder) can become weak. They can begin to show signs of atrophy or wasting because they are not getting nerve input.
- Bowels/Bladder – When there is pressure against the spinal cord, you may feel like you have to urinate more often. However, this pressure could also make it more difficult to get your urine to flow, also called urinary hesitancy. You could also experience dribbling or a weak flow of urine. Bowel movements can become strained.
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Symptoms
The pain generally starts with your buttocks or hips and can extend into your legs. This is due to damaged nerves at the lower portion of your spine. This pain can interfere with your daily life and hamper activities you need to perform on a daily basis.
- Lower Back/Hip Pain – Pain in your lower back is common with lumbar spinal stensosis.
- Legs – Your legs might feel tired, weak, or cramped. These symptoms may start when you are standing or walking. These symptoms may decrease in intensity when you sit, crouch, or tuck your knees up to your chest. This is because your lumbar canal opens in these positions, which takes the pressure off of the nerves that go to your legs.
- Buttocks/Thighs – You may notice pain or the sensation of “pins and needles” in your thighs and/or buttocks when you are standing or walking. You may feel a sense of relief when you bend forward or rest.
- Bowels/Bladder – In severe cases, you could lose control of your bowels and bladder.
Coping with Spinal Stensois Symptoms
Once you begin to experience these symptoms, you will need to determine the best way to cope with the pain. Ignoring the pain will not help you. In fact, symptoms will gradually become worse over time due to the aging process.
Simply making adjustments in how you sit or walk can tremendously reduce your pain. Anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medications can also help to reduce your pain. Certain exercises could help to relieve some of the pain. However, if none of the non-surgical approaches help to relieve your spinal stenosis symptoms, you will want to consider talking to your doctor about surgery.
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i have fallin at work about 3 years ago and now devolope symtoms due to a hernehation at the c7 and this concern me. i am affraid of the surgery. i have never had surgery and symptoms are bad. i feel as if the fall exasterbated this. is this at all possible? perhaps i had untreated disk in my cervicle area.that were nerver treated. im not a Dr. person and now i am