Spinal Stenosis is a condition that is much more common than you might think, impacting people in different ways, ranging from chronic pain to mild discomfort, and sometimes resulting in no symptoms at all. This short guide will focus on understanding how spinal stenosis can impact nerve function.
Spinal stenosis can be a serious issue and we will consider how it could prevent a person from living a normal life, as well as explaining the available treatments and spinal stenosis surgery.
What is Spinal Stenosis?
Spinal stenosis is the medical term for the narrowing of the spinal canal which applies pressure to the nerve roots and spinal cord. This can impact nerve function and cause pain among other discomforts. Pain is generally specific to the back, neck, arms, and legs, a person may also experience a tingling sensation, weakness in the limbs, balance issues, and sometimes, a loss of bladder or bowel control.
The symptoms are usually amplified when a person is standing or walking, and can gradually become more extreme over time if left untreated.
How Spinal Stenosis Impacts Nerve Function
As spinal stenosis compresses the nerve roots, a person can suffer a loss of nerve function which can sometimes result in serious consequences and prevent them from living a normal, active life. In this section, we will consider some of the ways a loss of nerve function can affect a person’s life and well-being.
The Different Types of Nerves
To fully understand the impact, it is first important to understand the different types of nerves in the body. The body contains billions of nerves that are controlled by the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) which are connected to peripheral nerves that travel through the rest of the body. These nerves are responsible for performing everyday functions, from registering pain to moving limbs.
There are three types of nerves in the human body:
- Motor Nerves – These are the nerves that control the body’s movements and pass instructions from the brain to the muscles, allowing a person to perform movements and actions.
- Autonomic Nerves – Autonomic nerves control involuntary and semi-voluntary functions in the body such as a person’s digestion, heart rate, temperature control, and blood pressure.
- Sensory Nerves – Nerves that send information from the skin and muscles back through the spinal cord and to the brain, allowing a person to feel sensations, such as pain.
Damaged Nerve Function: Symptoms
Neuropathy refers to when a nerve (or nerves) is damaged, possibly a result of an injury, disease, or condition like spinal stenosis. This can result in neuralgic pain which is the sharp pain that a person can experience from a damaged or irritated nerve.
Nerve damage can result in an array of symptoms, with some people experiencing more debilitating pain and discomfort than others. If left untreated, the damage caused by conditions like spinal stenosis could be permanent, and even surgery may not be able to provide a cure.
The symptoms of damaged nerves in the spine may include:
- Pain at varying levels
- Muscle weakness
- Sensitivity and inflammation in the affected area
- Numbness in the limbs
- A tingling sensation in the legs, buttocks, arms, or feet
- Numbness in the feet
- A burning sensation in the legs or lower back
- A loss of bladder or bowel control
- Sexual dysfunction
- Paralysis of the legs
Nerve damage can also affect a person’s gait and balance, meaning they can no longer walk as they did before. This could refer to a different posture such as leaning forward or being unable to walk over distances without losing balance. Leg weakness and pain may also make a person incapable of walking over distances and a person may find the pain subsides when they sit down or bend over.
Treating Spinal Stenosis
If you are suffering from any of the symptoms above then the first step is to visit a doctor who can diagnose the problem. If it is determined that you have spinal stenosis then you will be given the option of the following treatments.
Medication
The most common form of medication for spinal stenosis is nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) which effectively reduce inflammation and pain. Common over-the-counter examples are ibuprofen and naproxen. For cases where the pain is more chronic, NSAIDs may also be combined with either analgesics or antidepressants to provide more relief.
For nerve damage, anti-seizure drugs may also be prescribed, while a course of opiates may be considered for very severe pain. Opiates will only be issued in rare cases due to the risks of addiction and side effects that can be detrimental to a person’s health, such as increasing the chance of a heart attack or stroke.
Pain-Killing Injections
As an alternative to opiates or strong pain-killing medication, a doctor may administer pain-killing injections to the source of the pain.
The two most common injections are corticosteroids and nerve blocks. Corticosteroids are injected into the spinal discord (epidurally) and help to reduce inflammation as well as pain. Meanwhile, nerve blocks are anesthetics that are injected close to damaged nerves and provide pain relief.
Physical Therapy and Exercise
Physical therapy is very effective at reducing spinal stenosis symptoms and improves a person’s balance, flexibility, endurance, and muscle strength. A physical therapist will provide a person with a dedicated exercise program, with some of the exercises performed under supervision and others to be performed daily. Exercises to treat spinal stenosis often include squats, pelvic tilts, and stretches.
An exercise regime may also encourage low-impact activities like walking, swimming, yoga, or pilates. Anyone suffering from spinal stenosis will be advised not to take part in contact sports or high-intensity training like weight lifting.
Surgery
The most common form of back surgery for spinal stenosis is lumbar decompression surgery which removes part of the ligament. However, depending on which part of the spine is compressing the nerve, a person may undergo a discectomy, a laminectomy, a laminoplasty, or a foraminotomy. This will usually be followed by spinal fusion surgery or the installation of a mechanical spinal device to provide stability to the damaged area.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully, this article has provided some valuable insight into the connection between spinal stenosis and nerve function.
