It is a disease of middle age and old age, and its occurrence occurs gradually and after long-term pressure on the spine, over the years. In fact, following continuous pressures, the body automatically builds more bone and soft tissues around the vertebral column in order to cope with these pressures, and the intervertebral discs lose their water and become wrinkled. After that, the beads get closer to each other.
The set of mentioned events leads to the narrowing of the space of the spinal canal and the holes on both sides where the nerve roots pass. The narrowing of the space causes pressure on the nerves and disrupts their function, and finally the symptoms of canal narrowing such as numbness, tingling and murmur in the limbs, weakness and weakness in the muscles and in severe cases muscle wasting and urinary symptoms occur. These symptoms usually occur. They decrease when resting and become severe when walking, so that the person is forced to sit down to regain strength and reduce the symptoms. Bending forward due to the increase in the diameter of the spinal canal reduces the symptoms, for this reason, these patients often have a bent position. they take In these patients, back pain may or may not be a symptom.
diagnosis:Along with the signs and symptoms of the disease and the findings of the physical examination, imaging of the vertebral column such as MRI may also be considered to better examine the involved levels and the severity of the involvement.
Also, performing a nerve and muscle strip test to check the involved nerve roots can be helpful.
treatment:Depending on the severity and weakness of the symptoms, different treatments may be considered, such as:
- modification of lifestyle in order to reduce the pressure on the spine
- use of anti-inflammatory and anticonvulsant drugs such as gabapentin and... .
- Physiotherapy and doing special exercises
- Spine interventional treatments such as: epidural injections or injection of the joints between the facet seals.
- Surgery may be one of the treatment options in severe cases.
Author: Dr. Hossein Arjamand