Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
- Posted on: Mar 15 2018
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Age can be all about wisdom, knowledge, growth, and acceptance. And although all of those are good characteristics to take away from age, age can unfortunately also have a negative toll on your body— especially your back. As you age, all sorts of things can happen to your joint, ligaments, muscles, and discs. Specifically, as a result of age, some patients start to suffer from a condition called lumbar spinal stenosis.
What Is Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?
Lumbar spinal stenosis is a back condition that primarily afflicts older patients who also have arthritis. Lumbar spinal stenosis is when a patients’ intervertebral discs become less spongy and smaller which decreases the support in the spinal canal and compresses the surrounding nerves— resulting in pain and weakness in the lower back and legs.
What Are the Symptoms?
Just like with any health or back issue, the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis vary from patient to patient. Typically, patients with this condition experience pain and weakness in the lower back and legs. With a proper diagnosis from our doctors at Redwood Orthopaedic Associates, we will be able to determine if you do, in fact, have lumbar spinal stenosis or if you have something else. From there, we can work out a treatment plan.
How Is It Treated?
Medications, steroids, or physical therapy are all options that we may consider to treat your lumbar spinal stenosis. If for some reason, those are ineffective or if your condition is advanced, then we may want to discuss back surgery as another treatment plan.
If you are middle to older age, suffer from lower back pain and weakness, then you may be suffering from a back condition called lumbar spinal stenosis. To learn more about lumbar spinal stenosis or any other back conditions, schedule your consultation at our Santa Rosa office today (707) 544-3400.
Posted in: Lumbar Spine Treatments
