@sleeplessinmissouri Welcome to Connect. I'm sorry you are dealing with an injury and spine pain, but I do like your name! I am a spine surgery patient, and my injury was a whiplash years ago. With aging, spinal discs dry out a bit, and if there are small cracks in the outer fibrous layer from an injury, those can open up as a disc dries a bit. That is what happened to me. I had a bulging disc for years that eventually herniated, and the jelly like contents spilled out. By the time I had spine surgery, my disc height had collapsed by 50%. The extruded disc material causes inflammation, and bone spurs grew next to the disc as the body tries to stabilize the spine. Sometimes a spine issue takes years to develop.

One question you may want to ask is what is causing the foraminal narrowing? Is that something that was there before your injury or was it caused by your injury? Where are you feeling pain? Is it always in the same place or does it change locations? I can understand how this must be troubling. Some of what can happen when a disc is compromised is that the vertebrae can start slipping past each other. If that happens at the lower end of the spine, it can cause difficulty in walking by compressing nerves that service the legs. Someone should explain to you in detail what is affected with the spine and what may happen in the future because of it.

You may want to keep a journal of how your symptoms are changing. I realize you are looking for noninvasive treatment. Sometimes physical therapy helps by helping to maintain proper alignment. Have you considered getting another opinion from a spine specialist? If you are on a track toward surgery, who you trust to operate can have a huge impact. You want the very best surgeon you can find with expertise in what you need. You may find yourself in a situation with an urgent need for surgical intervention, and it would be difficult to shop around at that point.

Spine problems are unique in that there is no standard. Your experience can be completely different. When you have a pinched nerve in the foramen ( the space between the vertebrae), it is very specific to that nerve. If you have compression of the spinal cord, it may have symptoms that change. Pay attention to what posture increases your symptoms, and that can be different for sitting, standing, or laying down, Sometimes doctors get full spine X-rays in different positions to confirm if there is any instability that causes a vertebra to slip past another.

You may be interested in this story about a teen that had a lot of instability at L5S1. This surgeon is one of Mayo's best, and he was my surgeon that decompressed my spinal cord in my neck. https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2017/07/26/spinal-surgery-saves-teen-swimmers-mobility/

By learning as much as you can and advocating for yourself, you will have some control over your future. Don't let this defeat you. I know this is a shock to suddenly be facing a spine problem. There are some very real risks with spine injections too. I had a problem with an epidural injection that caused burning electrical pains that lasted several weeks. I won't do those injections anymore. I hope I'm not causing you stress. You need to know what you are up against so you can make educated choices.

Do you have more details about your spine condition that you can share? Have you considered a second opinion somewhere else?