Is acupuncture successful in pain relief from lumbar spinal stenosis

After sitting for five hours reminiscing with old school friends, my sciatica acted up!!
For the first time, I tried acupuncture and it absolutely worked. I did go 2-3 times a week for a few weeks.
Medicare does not pay.

@heyjoe415 I just wanted to chime in here. Spinal discs in adults do not have a blood supply so probably don't respond like other body parts to heat or cold. That is why damage to them becomes a problem and over time. The moisture in the discs dries out as we age and discs naturally shrink a bit. If they are herniated and the inner jelly like nucleus is spilled out, the disc will loose some height because of that. I had that situation and my disc lost half it's height before my cervical fusion spine surgery. While the spine is forming and growing, there is a blood supply, but it disappears during normal development. Discs are also under a lot of pressure bearing 80% of body weight on the discs in the spine while the other 20% is on the facet joints of the spine. I have heard of bulging discs that can stop bulging, and I've had that with one of mine as a result of physical therapy and seen that on my MRIs of the thoracic spine.

Jennifer

Thank you so much for the great info!
Question: Do you mean that PT contributed to one of your discs stop bulging? As in "get back into place"? Was PT on that area painful?
I am opposed to having anyone touch/manipulate my spine, especially a chiropractor. About 35 years ago, a chiropractic adjustment resulted in my leaving with pain, which continued for several days. I crossed off chiropractic care altogether. And I did not have bulging discs at that time, so with the present spinal condition the thought of anyone touching those areas is not at all appealing.

@menkcizmar so happy for you that acupuncture worked. Sciatica is so very painful as well as debilitating. May I asked how long you’d been suffering from sciatica? Acupuncture has worked for me and I am so grateful for the pain relief. It does take several appointments, it is not a one appointment cure, and I think that is what ppl think.
Blessings to you

@delia74 I do not let chiropractors touch my neck or back. With my physical therapist, there were no spinal manipulations other that using a foam roller to mobilize the spine or a wooden body back roller which can rest vertebrae alignment at bit just by laying on it. That can hurt a little bit in the muscles, but you are just pressing the muscles next to the spine on wooden knobs and the spine vertebrae are not contacted because there is a V shaped space in the middle of the roller for it, so the muscles are pulling the spine back into alignment. My therapist also does myofascial release to release tension in muscles and fascia that is holding the body. Muscle tension can create the bulging discs by pulling on the vertebrae. I also do core strengthening, so the spine is better supported. All of that tends to keep the spine aligned as it should be and I saw the bulging disc change on a later mri that did not show a bulged disc where it had been bulging before and there was no mention of it by the radiologist report.

If you have a disc that is weakened, a spinal manipulation can rupture the disc. All I had to do to rupture my C5/C6 that had been injured by a whiplash years earlier was to turn my head when I was stretching and I heard it pop and my head suddenly turned past the prior range of motion. You don't really know if a disc is weak, and a chiropractor could have easily ruptured it with a manipulation. That was probably going to happen anyway because of the injury causing C5/C6 to bulge for years and changes with aging.

If you're interested, this is our discussion about Myofascial Release.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
Jennifer

@delia74 I do not let chiropractors touch my neck or back. With my physical therapist, there were no spinal manipulations other that using a foam roller to mobilize the spine or a wooden body back roller which can rest vertebrae alignment at bit just by laying on it. That can hurt a little bit in the muscles, but you are just pressing the muscles next to the spine on wooden knobs and the spine vertebrae are not contacted because there is a V shaped space in the middle of the roller for it, so the muscles are pulling the spine back into alignment. My therapist also does myofascial release to release tension in muscles and fascia that is holding the body. Muscle tension can create the bulging discs by pulling on the vertebrae. I also do core strengthening, so the spine is better supported. All of that tends to keep the spine aligned as it should be and I saw the bulging disc change on a later mri that did not show a bulged disc where it had been bulging before and there was no mention of it by the radiologist report.

If you have a disc that is weakened, a spinal manipulation can rupture the disc. All I had to do to rupture my C5/C6 that had been injured by a whiplash years earlier was to turn my head when I was stretching and I heard it pop and my head suddenly turned past the prior range of motion. You don't really know if a disc is weak, and a chiropractor could have easily ruptured it with a manipulation. That was probably going to happen anyway because of the injury causing C5/C6 to bulge for years and changes with aging.

If you're interested, this is our discussion about Myofascial Release.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer. I did use chiropractors until I had laminotomies on my L4, L5, and S1. That solved the problem, and I won't let a CP near me.

I so agree with you: chiropractors may indeed serve a purpose for most people but definitely not for all. And absolutely not for me. With Jennifer's accounting of her personal experience, I am glad that I followed my resolution not to have anyone manipulate my lower back.

There was one exception I found to my, "No CP" rule. I was on a six month assignment in Chicago, and found a CP who practices "structural rehabilitation". He would occasionally do a manipulation, but for the most part he put his patients in traction.

He would have me lie down on a flat table, on my back with my knees raised. He's put a memory foam pad under my lower back to conform to my lumbar spine, and then tilt my head back over a hurdle to get the cervical spine in correct position. I'd stay in that position for 15 minutes.

It was not comfortable! But over a few months, my spine started to return to its natural/normal curves, and I always felt like had perfect posture after a treatment. I haven't been able to find another CP who does this.

Surgery can remove arthritic growth inside vertebra and this can give the nerve bundles more room. Surgery is never without its risks. Stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, usually caused by bone growth inside the canal (arthritis).