Spinal Canal Stenosis: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Spinal canal stenosis is the narrowing of spinal canal abnormally and this results in the spinal cord and nerve roots being pressurized, causing the person to have extreme pain interrupting the daily activities such as walking, standing (with or without support), running, sitting, bending, exercising etc. Some of the basic treatments are as follows:

1. Common medication: At first doctor will give common medications pain medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen, and naproxen. To relief the pain for a certain amount of time if the case is not severe and is still at the beginning
2. Steroids The doctors will then inject steroids such as prednisone to reduce the soreness, pain and swelling. But it is used rarely because of its side effects. The steroids will be prescribed on rare occasions when the patient is unable to manage pain and showing the symptoms of extreme pain such as vomiting, nausea, weakness etc.
3. Therapies Physical therapies like Physiotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy etc. will help the patient reduce the pain when with the doctor but again the use of heat, ice bag, a good massage can also be called the physical therapy but we can do this at home without any expert supervision( except massage)
4. Surgery

In extreme and severe case of Spinal Canal Stenosis when the pain is unmanageable with the tables, steroids or the physical therapy, the doctor will recommend for surgery. The surgeries will be done depending upon the type of pain or distress the patient is on. The types of surgeries can be done include:

• Laminectomy
• Spinal fusion
• Micro endoscopic decompression
• Facet Replacement or Total Element Replacement

The major treatment procedures are as follows:

1. Steroids: The steroids are injected in the back or neck to reduce the pain and swelling after the patient is sedated.
2. Therapies: Physiotherapies, acupuncture therapies are done by the experts in the field with good experience and shouldn’t be attempted without the experience or expert supervision.
3. Surgery: The surgeries will only be recommended to the severe and extreme case of Spinal Canal
4. Laminectomy Stenosis: This surgery helps creating space by removing the lamina. The bone spurs are removed to create more space to help with the inflammation. The bone spurs are not really any side effect but the general effect of aging.
5. Spinal fusion: Spine is decompressed and artificial bone substitute is filled concerning the vertebrae so that both the bones heal together in fusion. The procedure can be done through either your stomach or the back depending upon the patient’s body’s convenience as per the medical rapports.
6. Micro endoscopic decompression: The surgery is Minimally-invasive but the patient has the pro of quick recovery. The operational portico was stopped with the help of lamina with least soft-tissue injury which will make this method which requires more operating time than the other usual methods
7. Facet Replacement or Total Element Replacement: The facet is replaced with the artificial facets to recover the ones that are not usable anymore.

If the person is experiencing any symptoms of Spinal Canal Stenosis, Which are interrupting the daily life activities or reducing the daily activities. Spinal Canal Stenosis symptoms can be classified as:

1. Pain in the areas such as back, legs, thighs and buttocks that will get worse when standing up or picking up anything, bending.
2. Changes in the bodily activities of daily life as the walking abnormally, cramping etc.
3. Sensing reduced in the painful areas, numbness and sensation of pins and pricks.
The spinal canal stenosis needs to be treated immediately and if left untreated or ignored for a long period of time then there are chances that person might suffer from paralysis in some time.

If the pain is not chronic and the pain killers are effecting the pain and reducing or evading the pain then the individual will not need the treatment and can go on with the other possible reasons for the pain but if the pain killers are required in extreme amount it is good to consult the doctor and get a prescription for the alternatives. There can be many reasons for mild back pain so it is necessary that one consults the doctor when pain is unmanageable and avoid taking the medications on their own. This can lead to serious health issues.

Yes there will be a huge impact on the patient’s life and can stay for lifelong the patient needs to follow post treatment rules and regulations to be healthy and be able to perform minor tasks such as walking sitting bending exercising. Due to surgeries the person might be not able to do certain physical activities for a while or for lifetime depending upon the kind of surgery.

Also the person due to no sensation in the area might suffer from

• Losing the control of bladder. (involuntary urinating)
• Losing control of bowel.
• Sexual dysfunction

  The medications have its own side effects and can be controlled with strict diet plan according to the doctor.

Surgery recovery

The surgery has its own side effects and its recovery will depend on the type of surgery performed for which you need to consult the doctor for the proper guidelines.

Therapies for relief

The therapies needs to be constant and scheduled properly and should be performed strictly under the expert supervision. To what type of surgery is required is should be consulted by the doctor to understand the proper way to massage.

Exercising frequently

The physical activities are important and should be done on the regular basis with the person who has practiced and has experience in the proper exercise as to it is dangerous for the person to perform certain moves and can lead to an emergency.

The treatment/surgery recovery is sometimes short term and long term but it will recover according to the procedure used and applied by the doctors. Also the condition of the patient will also define the recovery period of the patient. But as for the disease there is no permanent cure for it. So, the patient will experience the periods of pain and treatments frequently.

The medications and tablets are available on the prescription of the doctor which is the cheapest form of treatment amongst the all types of treatments costing between PRs 80 – 1000/- The surgery cost is between $6,000 between $7,500 in India depending on the type of surgery being done. The physical therapies will cost PRs 8000 – 20,000/- at minimum range.

No there is no permanent cure for the spinal canal stenosis but the treatments do help with the controlling of symptoms and the patient needs to be treated on regular basis. The patient needs to visit the doctor constantly. In extremely severe cases the surgeries the only treatment with other side effects and other two methods (medications and therapies) will not have permanent effects and will need to be treated again when the pain will come back or better to be done on regular basis to avoid extreme pain and suffering.

Some of the alternatives are as follows:

• Acupuncture
• Exercise
• Diet
• Surgery
• Physical therapies