Has anyone had forminal narrowing of vertebrae due to aging?

I am hoping and praying they can fix it.

Can you tell me anymore about this?

@kensie123

I have cervical spondylotic myelopathy/degenerative cervical myelopathy, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, radiculopathy at the c5-c6 level and now have a new herniated disc at c6-c7. I had ACDF surgery in 2022 to decompress my flattened spinal cord because it was causing daily headaches, neck/shoulder pain, numbness and weakness in arms/hands/fingers, bladder incontinence and difficulty walking (felt like I had heavy boots on). I am a 55 year old female and was 52 at the time of that surgery. I found a good rated orthopedic spine specialist/surgeon who immediately diagnosed my myelopathy (spinal cord injury) and recommended urgent surgery to stop the progression of my spinal cord injury. I was not diagnosed properly by 2 other surgeons or my neurologist even though my MRI showed spinal cord flattening and reported symptoms.

My experience with neurologists is they like to test, test and test but not really good at proper diagnosis/treatment. They will do EMG nerve conduction studies but they can miss issues with spinal column/refer you properly. Some diagnosed me with small fiber neuropathy but forgot they diagnosed me with it years later. Some will show radiculopathy on EMGs and others will show “normal” results. Some will show carpal tunnel but not make the connection of issues with your cervical spine.

You may want a 2nd opinion to make sure you feel comfortable with the credentials and ratings of your surgeon. They may suggest foraminotomy to make room for your spinal nerve root that is compressed. They may or may not need to use hardware. Both my cervical and lumbar spine decompression surgeries required fusion so I have hardware in both neck and lower back. I was born with a narrow spinal canal (congenital spinal stenosis) and my degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis made my symptoms come on sooner than others without congenital spinal stenosis. I had my only child at the age of 40 and he was almost 11 pounds and 21 inches long so that may have started my issues in my lumbar spine and working at a desk job for 30+ years did not help my neck/back at all.

The cervical spine surgery wasn’t as bad as my lumbar spine surgery in terms of pain levels. I understand your concern about the risk of surgery but also the difficulty of living with both hands numb. My surgery has helped improved some symptoms but I still have residual symptoms from my injured spinal cord. The longer you have compression, the more risk for permanent injury to nerves/spinal cord (depending on what your MRI shows and what levels). My stenosis showed moderate to severe at c5-c6 and l4-l5 levels (my lumbar surgery was done at 2 levels l3-l5 but cervical was only one level c5-c6). Whenever you have decompression and fusion surgery, there is risk for compression above and below the levels fused.

Make sure to do your homework on your mri results and research doctors/surgeons/hospitals before committing and make sure you prepare in advance for surgery (self/home/pets, etc.) for the duration of recovery post surgery.

Hello - I’m so sorry to hear of your diagnosis and related symptoms. I had severe foraminal narrowing resulting in excessive bone spurs that compressed my cervical nerves in the C6/C7 region. After exhausting all conservative treatment I elected to have surgery in October 2022. ACDF C4-C7 which decompressed the nerves and fused the new vertebrae’s with a cage. Definitely relieved the issues I had and fortunately the nerves were not damaged.

I am reading for the first time that waiting on surgery may leave permanent symptoms. Hmmm. I have all of the above with greatly increased symptoms that extend from face, neck shoulder, down arm and hand. I am seeing neuro on 1/6. Appreciate any updates on this thread and wishing all good luck!

@kensie123,
I have that at C5, C6. Mine is from osteophytes crowding the foramenal space. The foramen can be widened to let let the nerves exit easily with minimenally invasive procedures. I'll have my osteophytes removed, probably when I'm 75. Different things can narrow that space. Your might be ligament or disc or like mine little bone spurs. You might find a spine surgeon who specializes in those endoscopic surgeries. Tony Mork is one I'll consider eventually. https://drtonymork.com/
Some surgeons specialize in fusion. So it's best to receive more than one opinion.

Cervical nerve 5 controls the deltoid muscles of your shoulders and your biceps. C5 provides sensation to the upper part of your upper arm down to your elbow.
Cervical nerve 6 controls the extensor muscles of your wrist and is involved in the control of your biceps. C6 provides sensation to the thumb side of your forearm and hand.
Cervical nerve 7 controls your triceps and wrist extensor muscles.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22278-cervical-spine

@kensie123 Welcome to Connect. I see you've been engaging with other members. What I might suggest is to also ask about thoracic outlet syndrome. It does cause numbness and tingling in fingers, pain and weakness in arms and pain in deltoid and is most often missed or misdiagnosed. Surgery that you've had would increase inflammation and could make TOS worse for awhile (if you have it). I have TOS and am also a spine surgery patient. I had a fusion at C5/C6 with an incision on the front of my neck. My TOS did get worse as I was healing from this surgery with increased symptoms. My PT did myofascial release to work on loosening scar tissue and treat the TOS.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353988
Here is our discussion on Myofascial Release:

Neuropathy - "Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

Mine is due to DDD, arthritis and cervical radiculopathy, pressing on a nerve??

What is TOS??

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/thoracic-outlet-syndrome
@kensie you could possibly have a procedure called microdisectomy where they just remove a part of the bulging disc it frees up the foraminal space relieving pressure on the nerve, eliminiting the radiculopathy and the arithritis ( which really only means swelling of the joint).