What helps spinal stenosis besides surgery?

If you do not fix the spine, in five years you may not be able to and pain and pills will gradually rule the rest of your life.

@bazzinga1234 Spine damage can come WITH or WITHOUT pain, and what happens is that bone spurs grow because of uneven pressure, so when a disc bulges or compresses, if causes uneven pressure on the bones around it causing bone growth. A ruptured disc that spills the gooey contents causes inflammation, which in turn causes bone growth as the body tries to stabilize the spine. In my case, a disc ruptured into the space around my spinal cord in my neck. That causes compression of all the nerve tissue passing through the cord to other parts of the body. I had trouble walking and had leg weakness and changing pain all over my body. It can cause incontinence. With enough pressure, the nerves die and dissolve in the fluid inside the spinal canal and they do not regenerate resulting in permanent disability. The nerve roots that exit the spinal cord can also be compressed by bone growth there, and discs commonly rupture into the space around the nerve roots. If the bone growth continues unchecked, it strangles the nerves. There is also a ligament on the back side of the spine that can enlarge and cause compression of the spinal cord.

It's easier to understand traumatic injury from a vehicle collision that damages the spine or nerves. We do things to prevent injuries like that by wearing seat belts and having air bags in the cars. Think of spine deterioration as a slow motion injury that happens over years. It can have the same effect, and a patient may have a choice to alter their destiny with decompression surgery. Not everyone gets a choice about being disabled or not. Why wouldn't you consider it?

It is hard to function daily when you can't walk, and everything is difficult. Getting up from a chair or getting out of bed is hard when you don't have the muscle strength to bear your body weight. When nerves die, the muscles they innervated atrophy and disappear. Then there is the financial burden of having to hire caregivers when you can no longer take care of yourself. Will you also need to be able to help physically take care of a spouse or relative?

There are many things to consider when deciding to have spine surgery or not. You have to ask yourself what quality of life you want, how can that get better or worse, and how long you might live with the quality of life in your condition. Your current health state is also a factor in your ability to recover, and the skill of the surgeon is very important.

If fear is preventing a patient from making a decision about surgery, understand that it is still a decision that will affect the rest of your life. Don't let fear make your decision for you. There are ways to get past the fear and understand it, and deprogram it. Doctors can also help with that too. Surgeons can't always promise to take away pain. They improve function with their procedures. There will be pain from the surgical path, and it may not be horrible. When I had my cervical decompression surgery, I found I could tolerate it without pain medication, so I didn't take any after I left the hospital. The pain medicine nauseated me, and causes constipation, and I was better off without it. I was tired and slept a lot during my recovery. I have no regrets. I got my life back and had a great recovery.

@hat Surgeons need to cover all the bases to tell you what can happen for legal reasons. That doesn't mean it will happen. They have statistics about success of procedures in various age groups. If you are a healthy 78 year old, likely your chances of a good outcome are better than someone your age who isn't healthy. For example, smokers don't recover as well because they have lower oxygen levels in their bodies, and that can cause a spinal fusion to fail. Many times, surgeons ask patients to stop smoking for a period of time to allow healing from surgery.

In my case, I saw my bone spurs double in size in 9 months on MRIs of my spine, and all of that was pressing into my spinal cord. I saw that as occurring quickly. Each MRI or image is just a snapshot of what is happening at that time, and doesn't predict how quickly something can change. Your doctor indicated that you have a window of time in which to make this decision. At some point, you have to trust the surgeon and take a leap of faith if you want the surgery, but that needs to be an educated decision. Always ask what you can do to contribute to the success of surgery. I saw how disabled my parents were (both in wheelchairs) and I knew that would be my future also if I didn't have spine surgery. I have no regrets. It was a good choice. I am a healthy person because of my choices and I know people who are the same age that are not healthy partly because of their choices, and that ages them faster. I expect that when I am in my 70's, I will still be active. I have a horse that I care for and ride, and the physical work keeps me young.

Aside from the spine issues, what is the state of your health now? Have you asked your doctors how your health and any other conditions could affect healing from major surgery?

I had cervical spinal stenosis with myelopathy and had surgery to remove a bone spur that was touching my spinal cord. A cadaver bone was inserted to address the space removed. I was in a lot of pain for at least 10 years prior to surgery to the point that it was scary because opioids didn't help. So, I stuck to Tylenol and sleep which meant not much got done around the house. My surgery was nearly four months ago, and I still experience pain. The doctors have now released me from no bending, twisting, stooping, reaching or picking up anything over 10 pounds. Nevertheless, all of those activities still reduce me to intense pain. I get periodic trigger point injections to calm down the intense pain and muscle spasms. While they have been helpful, I'm frustrated that I cannot return to even minimal levels of activity.

@carmilla First, let me say welcome to Connect. Muscle spasms do cause issues when you are a spine patient. I had a similar surgery to yours, a collapsed C5/C6 disc with bone spurs pressing into my spinal cord. At the time my spine problem was becoming known, I was working with a physical therapist doing myofascial release to loosen all the overly tight muscles and fascia. We all develop patterns of tightness, and that changes the alignment of bones which in turn may stress ligaments or tendons attached to the bones and cause pain or wear and tear. I had been addressing fascial tightness for several years at the time I had spine surgery because I was treating Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I had to stop for healing time of the fusion for a few months, but after that, I was able to resume myofascial release.

Another issue after surgery is surgical scar tissue than can attach to the other tightness you may already have in your body. Trigger points represent hardened desiccated tissue. MFR can release some dried out tissue, but trigger points may be too far advanced to regular MFR work. MFR works by allowing the fascia (which connects everything in the body) to reorganize itself. It is a somewhat fluid cobweb like tissue that can change from semi solid to semi liquid and reassemble in a different arrangement which then allows more movement, lessens pain, allows waste products to be flushed out, and conducts electricity for muscle function. MFR can loosen surgical scar tissue. Periodically, my surgical incision area tightens up, and I stretch it out.

It is still a bit early in your recovery at 4 months. Maximum improvement takes longer. I know that doing MFR helped me have a better recovery from my surgery. Since your doctor has released your restrictions, you may be able to try this. There is a provider search at http://mfrtherapists.com/

Here is our discussion on MFR. The first pages have lots of links to information:

Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
Has your surgeon authorized physical therapy for you? Have you heard of myofacscial release before?

Thnk you so much for the MFR information. I will check it out ASAP!

I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in L3 L4 or L4 L5, I'm not sure which. I was able to stand upright for only a short time and walk for only a few minutes due to discomfort in my right hip. Only sitting down or bending over for a minute gave me some temporary relief. I tried physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, dry needling, and injections. None of those things helped me. Then I tried a friend's inversion table. After three days of gently stretching out my spine by hanging at about a 45 degree angle for a couple of minutes each day, I was back walking. 10 months later I still use the table once a week and my hip discomfort is almost nonexistent. I still have stiffness in my lower back, especially first thing in the morning, but I'm back to being active.

@minijohn That's wonderful that you could improve your back with the inversion table and can stay active. It is worth noting for others who may read your post, that it's worth checking with your doctor before using an inversion table. If a person has had or may be prone to a stroke or perhaps if they have an AVM (arteriovenous malforation) in the brain, or blood pressure issues, being upside down will send more blood pressure to the head and can be a risk to someone who has other issues to consider.

You may also benefit from myofascial release because it can release overly tight tissue and allow the body to move better and be better aligned. We have a discussion on MFR that you might find helpful.

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

I use a cervical traction device made by Saunders.. as I l am prone on the floor I strap my head on to the device that is on a slight incline.. The device is clamped to my neck.. then an air pump pulls my neck up the incline a way...I'm in this device for 20-30 minutes a few times a week.. the device was prescribed by my spine surgeon.. a physical therapist delivered it and taught me how to use it..

So glad I saw your reply. I have cervical stenosis, bulging disc and occipital neuralgia. I think this would help me a great deal.