Stenosis in the lower spine is the most common location for narrowing to occur, particularly at the vertebral levels of L4, L5 and S1. Lower back pain is the most common of all dorsopathy concerns and is also statistically the hardest to treat successfully. Stenotic change almost anywhere in the spine can cause low back ache and related symptoms in the lower body, such as sciatica. It is crucial to understand that the actual stenosis does not have to be located in the lumbar spine for these symptoms to occur. In fact, many cases of cervical spinal stenosis enact lower body symptoms, including, weakness in the legs, low back ache, incontinence and the inability to stand or walk.
The typical degenerative processes which occur in every human spine predispose the lumbar region to the development of stenosis as people age. Disc desiccation, osteoarthritis and the high incidence of herniations all contribute to the virtual universality of narrowed lumbar canals, as do some other case-specific conditions, such as ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, scoliosis or spondylolisthesis.
This narrative explores the occurrence of lumbar stenosis conditions at the lower end of the spinal column.
Stenosis in the Lower Spine Suffering
Spinal stenosis can cause pain, but pain is not inherent to the condition. Some patients demonstrate mild to moderate stenosis which does not cause any symptoms whatsoever. Even some patients with severe stenosis might have numbness, weakness and other neurological concerns, but have no pain at all.
Unfortunately, many patients with severe stenosis do suffer misery in the low back, buttocks, legs and even feet. Some patients might also have widespread pain throughout the back, including the middle or upper sections, as well as the neck. It is crucial to remember that stenosis anywhere in the spine can enact pain in virtually any region below the affected level.
Relief from Stenosis in the Low Back
Finding relief from spinal stenosis can be difficult, since many cases are misdiagnosed as the source of symptoms, while all along some other structural or nonstructural process is truly causing the pain. In other scenarios, the stenosis is indeed the root causation, yet the treatment options are extremely limited and may involve drastic surgery, which can make matters worse, despite being indicated for the condition.
Spinal stenosis surgery is a very imperfect science and many patients end up worse off after an operation than before. Patients who are lucky enough to achieve true and lasting cures from surgery are certainly not the typical case profiles. However, these statistics are greatly dependent upon the actual nature of the stenosis concern. Some structural problems respond much better than others. Be sure to ask your doctor for the latest curative research statistics for your particular type of stenosis when considering any surgical intervention.
Stenosis in the Lower Spine Guidance
Cervical spinal stenosis can cause lower back pain almost as often as lumbar spinal stenosis can. It is a little known fact that a great number of central stenosis conditions in the neck often express themselves with lower body symptoms, such as sciatica, lower back pain and the predisposition to trip and fall. Meanwhile, a good number of these poor patients have no neck pain at all. This is one of the many reasons why diagnosis of spinal stenosis can be such a tricky proposition.
It is vital to understand that the majority of therapies used to treat stenosis back pain are symptomatic in nature. Remember too, if the pain is indeed purely structural and caused exclusively by a narrowed spinal canal, then drugs, physical therapy, chiropractic or any of the plethora of other symptomatic therapies will do nothing at all to cure it.
Only surgery or nonsurgical spinal decompression can provide real cures and only when applied successfully for indicated causative conditions.
Spinal Stenosis > Lumbar Spinal Stenosis > Stenosis in the Lower Spine
