Spinal stenosis is a progressive, painful condition that can affect any area of the spine but is most commonly seen in the upper spine -- usually in the area of the neck and shoulders as well as the lumbar area of the lower back and tailbone regions. There are several treatment options, but laser spinal stenosis surgery is proving to be the most effective and safest. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the hollow opening in the vertebra that house the spinal cord. As the chamber becomes more narrow there is not enough room for the spinal cord and the accompanying nerves. Offshoot nerves can get pinched or even severed, and the spinal cord can become bruised and injured as well. This pinching, severing, and damaging of the nerves causes a great deal of pain as well as numbness, weakness, and decreased mobility among other symptoms. Read on to learn more about laser surgery as a treatment for stenosis.
Spinal stenosis often results in searing pain in the affected area of the spine, radiating pain and tingling through the arms or legs, weakness and loss of muscle strength, and inability to perform normal activities. Laser spine stenosis surgery can help people alleviate their symptoms and regain more normal, comfortable lives.
The narrowing of the spinal column is often the result of normal aging and bone loss so the elderly are more likely to experience it, but it can happen to anyone and anyone could develop spinal stenosis during their lifetime.
When the spinal canal is narrowed too much minor things can bring on the pain as nerves get rubbed, pinches, bruised, and damaged. Things like standing too long, sitting or lying in a bad position, sneezing or coughing hard, are all things patients have said could bring on a pain attack. Some even describe how a simple thing like rolling over in bed can shift the spine just enough to pinch something. Through spine stenosis surgery, the pressure on the nerves is alleviated to reduce the patient's stenosis symptoms.
Recovery is much faster than with normal large incision procedures, which is a huge benefit of laser spinal stenosis surgery. Each case is unique but in most instances the patient is able to resume light activities within a few days, can return to a low impact job within a week and can usually resume all normal activities within a month to two months at the very most.
This condition can also cause a variety of other lesser symptoms that include things like headaches, hip-knee-shoulder pain, weakened grip in the hands, loss of feeling in the feet, and digestion and bladder problems.
With the improvements that laser stenosis surgery brings, there is the befit of a decrease in risk for side effects such as infection, damage to surrounding tissue, and less chance of relapse due to missed tissue or undetected issues during the surgery.
The pain associated with this type of back issue can be fairly constant to some degree but will spike at times to a much higher level. Many describe the pain as an intense burning or searing pain. Some say it is like a knife being twisted in their spine and feeling the pain from is shooting through their arms and legs.
Laser spinal stenosis surgery will often correct almost all of the issues associated with this condition. There is no full cure of spinal stenosis yet known but laser surgery does help to greatly reduce symptoms and flare-ups by alleviating the pressure and allowing the spine and nerves to have the room they need to function without damage.
The biggest benefit with modern laser stenosis surgery is the incision is much smaller, usually only a few inches long at most, and the recovery time is much shorter as a result of this improve access.