Spinal stenosis
Also called: narrowing of the spinal canal
What it means
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces in your spine that can press on the spinal cord or nearby nerves, often causing pain, numbness, or weakness.
If you have osteoporosis or spine changes, understanding spinal stenosis helps you and your doctor tell apart nerve-related pain from fracture-related pain.
Spinal stenosis means the open spaces inside your spine have narrowed, putting pressure on the spinal cord or the nerves that branch off from it. It usually develops slowly, most often in the lower back (lumbar spine) or neck (cervical spine), and tends to show up with age as discs and joints wear down.
Common causes include degenerative disc disease, bone spurs from osteoarthritis, thickened ligaments, and spondylolisthesis, where one vertebra slips forward over another. Spinal stenosis is a structural and degenerative condition, separate from osteoporosis, though both become more common as people age and can sometimes be discussed together during spine evaluations.
Symptoms often include back or neck pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the legs or arms, and sometimes trouble walking long distances. Treatment ranges from physical therapy and activity changes to medications or, in more severe cases, procedures like spinal fusion; any treatment decisions should be made with your doctor based on your specific situation and imaging.
Spinal stenosis helps you and your doctor tell nerve-related pain apart from fracture-related pain.
Where this leads
WordWondering what else can narrow the spaces in your spine? Spondylolisthesis shows how a slipped spinal bone can also add to nerve symptoms.
Related words
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is the natural wearing down of the cushion-like discs between your spine bones…
Spondylolisthesis is when one spinal bone slips forward out of place over the one below it, most often in the lower…
A vertebral compression fracture is when a bone in the spine collapses or flattens, often because the bone is…
Kyphosis is an excessive forward curve of the upper back, often called a dowager's hump, which in bone-health terms…
The lumbar spine is the lower part of your backbone, made up of five vertebrae (L1-L5) between your ribs and pelvis.…
Spinal fusion is a surgery that permanently joins two or more vertebrae together using bone graft and hardware like…
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
