@laelh I agree that PT can help a lot, but it can't cure spinal stenosis. It helps by building strength and hopefully helping to maintain better alignment. I wanted to let you know that not all spine procedures are huge surgeries with months of recovery. If you have central canal stenosis in the lumbar spine, a surgery that could address this is a laminectomy. Essentially, they make more room for the spinal cord by cutting through the bone and raising it up, kind of like adding a second floor to a house and raising the roof up to accommodate. My 80 year old cousin just had this done, and he only had 2 weeks of using pain meds, and was able to walk right away. He was back to his usual activities in about 4 weeks, so that is not a long difficult recovery.

If you have collapsing discs in your spine, your spine could start fusing itself by growing bone around it to stabilize it. That may not be a good situation if it causes compression of nerves.

If you have more specific questions about spine care, perhaps I can help. I have cervical spine surgery at Mayo that changed my life for the better. It's always good to have information so you know what choices are possible.