Does anyone have Spinal Stenosis that is extremely bad at wake up?

I had that a few years ago. I had the surgery and was awesome after. If it gets real bad I would highly recommend it.
Sue

I've had some great ones for sure.
I haven't heard of any of these!
https://www.ncoa.org/adviser/sleep/best-mattress-for-back-pain/
https://naplab.com/best-mattress/best-mattress-for-back-pain/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/mattresses-for-back-pain/
If you can, go to some different stores and ask around in your area.
I think I've had a Sealy for 25 years from Sit n Sleep. But it got to hard for my shoulders.
So I gave it to my guest room. I have a private label now in my bedroom and I put a foam topper on it. All the lush pillows I use, makes all the difference!
best, Lori

Hi Sue,

Did you get fusion surgery? I had a laminotomy 10 years ago to clear arthritis in S1, L5, and L4. Now I face fusion and am trying to avoid it. What was your experience! Thank you!

Joe

Hi Mick,

First of all, I'm sorry for what you're going through. I have lumbar stenosis, scoliosis, disc degeneration, and advanced osteoarthritis in my lumbar spine. 10 years ago I had minimally invasive laminotomies at S1, L5, and L4 to remove a ruptured disc and to remove arthritic spurs that were part of the stenosis. This was also used to address sciatica. My surgeon has told me the next time I get pain or sciatica, I'll need fusion. But I've been mostly fine since that surgery.

Short of surgery, there's nothing to be done for stenosis. One thing I would suggest, as illogical as it sounds, never use heat on your back. Heat brings in blood and adds to the inflammation problem. Bottom line - it makes stenosis worse over time. Use ice on the back, always, to reduce inflammation and slow the advance of stenosis.

Laminotomy is one way to surgically address stenosis. Small holes are drilled in the vertebra and the arthritic growth is shaved down, creating more space. This surgery does not mess with the integrity of the vertebra.

I also get up very stiff after sitting for a while (surprisingly, not much in the morning). I recently tried orthotics because of my high arches, and that has helped quite a bit, so you could ask your surgeon and see a podiatrist, or just get sized for Dr. Scholl's inserts for a lot less $$$.

If you don't have pain in your butt or the back of your legs, then the stenosis isn't putting excessive stress on your sciatic nerves. Believe me, you'll know when it does.

I'm 70 y/o now, 5'10" and got my weight from 190 to 160 over the last 12 months. (FWIW I used to be 6'1" and with the scoliosis and disc compression I've shrunk!) I do a lot of core exercises and stretch my upper and lower back everyday. If you don't know how to do this, you can look it up online, or hire a personal trainer for a session or two each week. It's worth it.

I really do hope at least some of this helps. All the best to you Mick.

Joe

The reason this happens in the morning when you first get up is the pressure on the discs is reieved while horizontal and when you first stand up the pressure increases from weight of your upper body. I find it helpful to get to a recliner right away and gradually adjust the chair upward over 20-30 minutes while you have coffee, breakfast. If you’re lucky someone will bring those to you while your spine adjusts. 😀

I have lumbar and cervical stenosis. With the cervical stenosis, I am worse while still horizontal and things improve when I get up and am vertical.

Did you find that acupuncture helped significantly? I have severe stenosis and cannot take a lot of pain relievers because of side effects.

Surgical decompression? Have not heard of this. Can you say a bit more?

Acupuncture hrlps pain relief, but you should ask the acupuncturist what they think specifically about that. The thing that helped me the most was RFA. I had severe pain radiculopathy around the front of my legs and it took it away entirely. Myofascial pain release therapy is something else you should experiment with. I take Percocet for pain relief that can’t be fixed in my tailbone for 30 years low-dose and it never interacts with anything. I didn’t know if you had other medication’s, which might interfere or you just don’t do well on opioids starting with very low dose. Medication might be helpful if it’s an intolerance thing, there are 1200 pain relievers a doctor said to me once we will try them all. Fortunately, that was before the time of public abuse. I only had to try four. Good luck.

I too have severe lumbar and cervical stenosis. I get up every morning and walk like a crab for about an hour. It takes a while for my spine to be able to hold me up, and I only weigh 105!