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Spinal stenosis is also called spinal stenosis or spinal stenosis. It arises as a result of progressive degeneration of the spine. The symptoms of this disease depend on the location of the stenosis and most often appear around the age of 50 or 60. Both men and women suffer from them. Treatment of ailments is based on physiotherapy and analgesic pharmacological treatment, and in more severe cases, surgery is also used.
Spinal stenosis – causes
The causes of spinal stenosis are divided into congenital and acquired. The first group includes idiopathic causes and achondroplasia (ACH, dwarfism, chondrodystrophy), i.e. an inherited genetic disease which, by mutating the FGFR3 gene, leads to abnormalities in endochondral ossification. The second group includes iatrogenic and post-traumatic factors (e.g. a car accident), degenerations (including degenerative spondylolisthesis) and Paget’s disease, which is a disease of the skeletal system. Spinal stenosis is less likely to occur due to discopathy or osteoporosis. The vertebral bodies come closer together, which results in a narrowing of the free space in the spinal canal. This space is responsible for preventing pressure on the nervous tissue, therefore during stenosis, the nervous structures are significantly compressed and this leads to the appearance of unpleasant pain. Another cause of this disease is the degeneration of the spine joints, which manifests itself in the form of thickening of the paraspinal ligaments. Occasionally, changes are caused by the presence of a tumor in the body and accompanying tumors.
Cervical vertebrae stenosis – symptoms
Among the symptoms of spinal canal stenosis, pain ailments that increase during walking and standing are primarily mentioned. Even short walks can lead to intermittent claudication. Spinal canal syndrome may appear in the upper or lower back. It depends on which part of it has narrowed. Compression of the structures of the spinal canal may occur in the cervical segment in the vertebrae from C1 to C7 or in the lumbar segment and its vertebrae from L1 to L5. Thoracic stenosis is relatively rare. If the patient is struggling with a condition related to the cervical region, he often develops dizziness and headaches, pain in the neck, back, neck, shoulder pain, sensory disturbances and sometimes also paresis of the upper limbs. Lumbar spine stenosis is manifested by unilateral or bilateral back pain in the lumbar region, which can sometimes even extend to the foot. There is also tingling in the legs, and the patient may have considerable difficulties with walking. However, the discomfort is reduced when the patient, for example, bends down or props himself on a chair with his hands. Sometimes this type of stenosis is accompanied by a number of specific neurological symptoms known as cauda equina syndrome. In this case, the patient has problems with urinating and stools, suffers from sensory disturbances and weakness in the lower body muscles, and the pain that affects him can be compared to that of sciatica. Rare spinal stenosis in the thoracic region manifests itself as dull pain radiating to the area of the ribs and lower limbs.
Spinal stenosis – threats
You should never ignore the symptoms of this condition and you absolutely cannot self-medicate without consulting your doctor. If, additionally, disturbing symptoms appear in the form of rapid and significant weight loss, a low-grade fever that lasts too long, or a fever, it may indicate a neoplastic basis of the spinal canal stenosis.
Spinal stenosis – diagnosis and treatment
Diagnostics of the tightness of the spinal canal, in addition to collecting a medical history, mainly includes performing tests such as computed tomography (CT, CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It does not show up during an ordinary X-ray examination, which will only show degenerative changes in the spine. The x-ray does not show the spinal cord. A referral for appropriate examinations is issued by a neurologist or orthopedist. The disease may be moderate, absolute and critical.
Treatment of spinal stenosis involves the implementation of both conservative and preventive treatment. In this case, pharmacotherapy includes taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by the patient. There are also rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy, therapeutic gymnastics (kinesiotherapy), physical therapy (including, for example, cryotherapy and thermal therapy), various massages and acupuncture, and nerve block. In some cases, swimming is recommended to help relieve the spine. Sometimes the only effective solution is to perform an operation, which consists in decompressing the nerve structures of the spinal canal and its widening. During laminectomy, parts of the intervertebral disc or bone fragments that press on the nerve structures are removed.