Spinal Stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal. The narrowing of the spinal canal can cause back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain. There are two types of symptoms one might experience, the first is neurological compression of the nerves, and the second is vascular compression on the blood flow. You may feel pain in one leg or both legs. Some patients may experience their leg feeling cold or rubber like. If compression of the spinal cord is over a long period of time it can lead to motor weakness (unable to move your arm or leg). You may feel better sitting but when you walk for a short distance or stand to long you need to rest because of the leg pain.
There are several causes of Spinal Stenosis. One cause is a degenerative process that occurs due to arthritis. This occurs when there is a lot of pressure on the vertebra (spine) or the disc where there becomes extra bone growth (calcium build up). The result of the bone growth is bone spurs which you can describe as Osteoarthritis. These bone spurs grow in such a way that it causes narrowing of the spinal canal thereby inflaming the nerve or spinal cord and putting pressure on the cord. The result is back pain, neck pain, numbness, tingling or weakness in you arms or legs. Another cause of Spinal Stenosis is congenital you were born with it a smaller spinal canal or a shorter vertebrae that leads to compression. The last type of Spinal Stenosis is caused by a bulging, protruding or herniated disc. This occurs when the disc pushes out between the vertebrae and into the spinal canal leading to the narrowing and compression.
An effective treatment for Spinal Stenosis is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression that works by using a vacuum like pressure to suck the bulging, protruding or herniated disc material back into place, and by re hydrating the degenerative disc. The end result is a larger opening in the spinal canal and a decrease or elimination of your neck pain, back pain, arm pain and leg pain.