6 Symptoms That Point Toward Spinal Stenosis

You’re making your way through the grocery store, hunched over your cart because standing straight has become quite painful. Or maybe you have sharp pain in your neck or lower back with certain movements. These are just two of the ways in which spinal stenosis can make itself known.

Spinal stenosis is a degenerative condition that tends to affect older populations — spinal stenosis is found in about 20% of people over the age of 60. Thankfully, about 80% of these people don’t have symptoms, but for those who do, the symptoms can be hard to ignore.

To give you an idea, neurologist Dr. Paul Gill, who heads up his namesake practice Gill Neuroscience, takes a closer look at spinal stenosis here. More specifically, we’re going to focus on a few of the hallmarks of this common spine condition.

A brief look at spinal stenosis

Let’s start this discussion with a quick review about what we’re up against when it comes to spinal stenosis. 

At its core, it describes a narrowing in your spinal canal due to degenerative changes, such as thickening ligaments and bone spurs. As the space narrows, it can compress your spinal cord, as well as any one of the 31 pairs of spinal nerve roots that exit your spine.

In most cases, spinal stenosis develops in one of two areas:

• Your lumbar spine, or lower back
• Your cervical spine, or neck

The reason spinal stenosis tends to develop in these two areas of your spine is because they are the most active.

When spinal stenosis leads to symptoms

As we mentioned, symptoms only crop up in about 20% of people with spinal stenosis, but that still amounts to millions of people. And thanks to an aging population in the United States, the prevalence of spinal stenosis is expected to increase to 18 million people over the next decade.

When people develop symptoms, it’s because there’s nerve compression due to the narrowing, which can lead to:

Lower back pain

One of the hallmarks of lumbar spinal stenosis is pain in your lower back, especially when you’re standing tall. Often, the best way to relieve the pain is to hunch over, which relieves the pressure on the nerve.

Neck pain

If you have cervical spinal stenosis, you might experience pain in your neck, especially as you move your head around.

Numbness and tingling in your hands

If there’s nerve compression in your neck due to cervical spinal stenosis, you may experience radiculopathy — a condition in which symptoms travel down the length of the nerve. In this case, it can lead to numbness, pain, and tingling in your arms and hands.

Symptoms that shoot down your leg

This same radiculopathy can occur if there’s nerve compression in your lower back. When this occurs, you might feel pain that travels down into your buttocks and legs.

Leg cramping

People with lumbar spinal stenosis often complain of a heaviness in their legs, as well as cramping.

Weakness in your legs or arms

Depending on where the stenosis is located, you might experience weakness in your legs, feet, arms, or hands. This can also lead to balance issues, as well as functional problems, such as using your hands for fine motor skills.

If any of these symptoms sound familiar, it’s important that you come see us for an evaluation —  a quick X-ray can let us know whether there’s stenosis in your spine. 

If we find a narrowing, we can recommend some treatment options to relieve your symptoms and allow you to move more freely again.

For expert diagnosis and care of spinal stenosis, please call our office in Houston, Texas, at 832-912-7777, or use our online request form to schedule an appointment.