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Spinal Stenosis
What is Spinal Stenosis?Stenosis describes the narrowing of an anatomical space. In the case of the spinal variety, the space is the spinal canal. This canal is the structure which surrounds the actual spinal cord. In a stenosis syndrome, something causes a constriction of this space, lessening the room available for proper spinal cord and spinal nerve root function. Most stenosis conditions are minor and might be completely asymptomatic, but some can cause truly nightmarish problems when the actual neurological function of the cord is significantly impaired.What Causes Stenosis of the Spine?The spinal canal can be infringed upon by a number of common conditions. Some of the most typical source of stenosis include:* Cyst or Tumor formation near the cord. * Multiple vertebral fractures can create stenosis and spinal instability. Spinal Stenosis DiagnosisThis condition is truly a diagnostic problem within the back pain industry. As with many other spinal abnormalities, stenosis is diagnosed far more often than it actually occurs in problematic form. Many cases are considered normal for a person’s age and activity level, yet are vilified into taking the blame for painful sciatica symptoms. Many diagnostic MRI results show a mild infringement on the thecal sac surrounding the spinal cord, yet this leads to the inference that stenosis is the cause of pain. This is virtually never true…True stenosis of the spinal canal involves an obvious compression of the spinal cord and unmistakable symptoms including severe neurological dysfunction and possible cauda equina syndrome or even partial paralysis. Most cases of diagnosed stenosis are simply spinal scapegoat conditions used to explain sciatica pain which is actually being caused by some other physical, or more likely, ischemic source. Spinal Stenosis AdviceFor patients with the “real deal”, my heart goes out to you. True stenosis can be a torture to endure and often involves drastic and even surgical treatment. It is even worse that many patients with such relatively minor symptoms share your diagnosis out of medical error or (more commonly) purposeful diagnostic exaggeration…If you have been diagnosed with stenosis of the spine and are functional, you should definitely do additional independent research on the condition. Dr. John Sarno writes a good description of stenosis in his early book, “Healing Back Pain”. I recommend knowledge therapy as the first treatment choice and medical or complementary therapies only as a back up plan. I have seen far too many patients with what they believed to be serious stenosis, recover completely, in a matter of weeks, to take this diagnosis too much to heart. Remember, WANTING to recover is more than half the battle… 7/6/08 Revised 1/12/10
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