Spinal Stenosis

I’ve had it since 2006. Spinal injections, nerve blocks, Vicodin, muscle relaxers. They all work to manage the pain as needed. Drove me to depression...more meds and therapy for that. No addictions after all these years. Yet many people want to save me by not allowing doctors to prescribe opiates for pain. I use about 60 Vicodin a year. Maybe I should post this under pet peeves.
 
Pbkmaine said:
I have had it for 20 years. Physical therapy and yoga take care of it for me.
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PT has helped me a lot too. I have far more going on than spinal stenosis. Cervical Disc Degeneration Disease at three levels with nerves damage and a lumbar disc pressing against my spine.
 
I was diagnosed with that, and a few other back issues, maybe 3 years ago now. It was painful enough that I asked if they could just do an operation. I was willing to take any risk to get rid of the pain.

The Doc was very dismissive of that idea, wanted to try lots of other things, first. Interestingly, he said it might improve on its own over time. The first thing he wanted to try was NSAIDs, a prescription dose about twice what's recommended on the non-prescription bottle.

I asked if I could just take twice as many of the non-prescription one, and he said sure.

Here's the surprise: he was right. The NSAIDs helped, and over time it actually got better. I still have back pain, especially if I stand in one place for a while. But I rarely need the NSAIDs now.

Just wanted to let you know it CAN be manageable.

Oh, and they also tried physical therapy and exercise. That may have contributed somewhat to the improvement.
 
5+ years ago, just as I was about to start my weekend long run, my back spontaneously went into debilitating spasm. I was eventually diagnosed with stenosis. Everyone is different, but here's what "cured" me:
Swimming
Bicycling (ironically, for some this makes it worse but in my case the opposite)
I was able to continue running, but I did have to give up the longer distance runs, and now limit myself to 3 to 4 miles.
This leg wedge BR2550 - BetterRest Deluxe Memory Foam Leg Wedges - Jobri was an absolute Godsend. Minimizes sciatica and allows for a good night's sleep.
I also bought this https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...bthead=true&ta=typeahead&Keyword=knee-pillows for when I turn to sleep on my side.

It was not an overnight improvement. But I went from walking hunched over every day until 10 AM or so, to no sciatica at all in about 6 months. No P.T., no injections, just the above activities and time. If nothing else, get that leg wedge!
 
Dash man said:
PT has helped me a lot too. I have far more going on than spinal stenosis. Cervical Disc Degeneration Disease at three levels with nerves damage and a lumbar disc pressing against my spine.
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I don't have the lumbar issues but I'll raise 5 levels of cervical plus t1, due to degenerative disc disease.

My empathy to anyone who understands what either is like.

PT is great, I currently lift weights too. I'm surprised the increase in some of my abilities. Not sure it does anything if I get rear ended again. Maybe I'm a better surgery candidate.😂

I had a doc in 2000 that tried to keep me from the horror of prescription opiods. I almost took a walk with a 44 on more than one occasion. I couldn't do that, but I ignorantly did things(mixing opiods, benzos, muscle relaxers) that could have ended badly.
 
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I thought I had sciatica, but my physical therapist told me that the spinal stenosis was affecting a nerve on my right side. She advised stretches (the yoga pose called “pigeon” works a treat) and it has really helped.
 
My wife started falling down about age 50 when walking down steps. She started a long term medical protocol consisting of physical therapy, medicines, back injections, more physical therapy, water aerobics, etc.

She eventually had a laminectomy performed by a neurosurgeon. After recovery, she did okay with the back. The problem has been other skeletal issues with shoulder, knees and now midfoot arthritis. She also suffers from fibromyalgia and an unknown monolike illness or unknown origin.

My wife has been under the care of great pain management physicians for 16 years. And she it takes morphine sulfate and another controlled substance that mask her pain. .With proper meds, she is a positive member of society Without the meds, she would be an invalid. For us, the surgery for stenosis and meds was not a hard decision.
 
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Doctors and health insurance companies love to push the painkillers and phsyio therapy, for the good reason that often back pain is temporary and does go away.

However, if it's not solving the problem for you, insist on an X-ray, (besides they are cheap). I did, and immediately qualified for surgery as they could see the issue needed surgery.
 
DH had pain for years. Surgery had been recommended by several experts.
PT and other activities only helped so far but he lost a lot of life quality.
So 10 years ago at age 55 he had surgery done with implants and bone transplants.
Pain was gone almost immediately.
It remained great for 3 years, some manageable pain started then again.
4 years ago he got 2 smaller micro surgeries that helped a lot.
He is mostly without pain, enjoys walking, biking and our gym activities.

Constant pain and loss of activities you enjoy is so depressing. We are glad that he found treatment.
His older sister (75) has a similar condition but due to severe heart issues and previous stroke her drs advise against surgery. Hard to see her suffering.
 
I suffered with sciatica to some degree for 30 years, and managing it via exercise and a few NSAIDs worked for decades.

And then it didn't. After 8 months of real suffering, i.e. a sneeze would cause me to pull the car over because I couldn't function for a minute, I finally went through the insurance protocol: pills, therapy, etc. This took about 4 months. Finally got the MRI and it was obvious to a layman I had issues.

I went forward with a bilateral hemilaminotomy, which is less invasive than a laminectomy. I still have good bone support, and the surgeon was able to take off the bone spurs.

Life was immediately better on waking up. I can hike again, one of my real passions that went by the wayside.

Of course, YMMV. You should try everything conservative first. Give it at least 6 months, maybe a year, before you go for surgery.
 
Sunset said:
Doctors and health insurance companies love to push the painkillers and phsyio therapy, for the good reason that often back pain is temporary and does go away.

However, if it's not solving the problem for you, insist on an X-ray, (besides they are cheap). I did, and immediately qualified for surgery as they could see the issue needed surgery.
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I’ve had MRIs and x-rays. Not a surgical candidate for my cervical issues because of significant nerve damage and suffering multi-level disc issues, the surgery frequently puts more stress on the discs above and below the fused vertebrae. Orthopaedics doctors are more likely to recommend surgery than neurosurgeons.
 
In my line of work I learned never to let an othro doc operate on you. If you want good results only a neurosurgeon that has a 90% success rate. I can not tell you the number of clients I have seen much worse off after an ortho operated.
 
Teacher Terry said:
In my line of work I learned never to let an othro doc operate on you. If you want good results only a neurosurgeon that has a 90% success rate. I can not tell you the number of clients I have seen much worse off after an ortho operated.
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Agreed
 
Teacher Terry said:
In my line of work I learned never to let an othro doc operate on you. If you want good results only a neurosurgeon that has a 90% success rate. I can not tell you the number of clients I have seen much worse off after an ortho operated.
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Is this for any type of surgery, or just the spine ?
Who does hip replacements ?
 
My wife suffered from Stenosis and tried therapy, exercise etc. Nothing helped. She went in for surgery almost a year ago for a laminectomy. Had it done at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston. The surgeon does 5 or 6 every day. The morning after surgery she felt immediate relief, and is pain free today.
 
I have degeneration in my spinal facets that has been bothering for a couple of years and effecting my softball and golf swings or anything rotational. While I continue to do resistance training, I am not sure there is anything specific that can really slow this type of degeneration.
 
mickeyd said:
What is NSAID?
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Aspirin. Ibuprofen. Naxo...something. None steroidal pain reliever or something.

On the other side you have Tylenol which is not an NSAID. And to confuse things further, the Brits and Yanks can't get together on this thing and alternately call it Tylenol, Acetaminophen, Paracetamol, APAP, etc.

No wonder we patients can't figure this stuff out. My dad was taking something and one of the ingredients was APAP. I never heard of it, so I ask the doctor, and he says, oh yeah, our name for Tylenol. Then I go to a web site, and someone is praising paracetamol. I wonder what that is, and discover it is the Brit word for Acetaminophen.

Arrrgggh!
 
mickeyd said:
What is NSAID?
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NSAID is Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Starting my morning in bed with spinal stretching has helped me. I’m not a spiritual Yogi, but I do believe in posing and stretching. It is helping every day.
 
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