Back pain, neck pain, and spine pain are among the most common chronic pain conditions, are frequently caused by spinal stenosis. Although spinal stenosis can arise from several health conditions, the team at Source Healthcare in Santa Monica, California has extensive experience accurately determining the underlying cause and helping patients overcome their pain using the most cutting-edge treatments available. Call the office to learn more or use the convenient online booking feature to schedule a consultation today.
Pain Intervention at Its Best
Do You Have Spinal Stenosis?
- Do you experience pain, weakness, numbness, and/or tingling in your legs, groin, buttocks, and/or back?
- Does the pain get worse when you stand or walk?
- Do you frequently need to sit down or lean forward over a walker, cane, or shopping cart because of your pain?
If you answer yes to any of the above questions, please contact our office staff to schedule an appointment to consult with the doctor for the Superion procedure.
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Your spinal nerves travel through your spinal canal and exit through openings we call “foramen.” If any of these spaces are too narrow, your nerves become compressed. We say you have “spinal stenosis.” It’s a problem that most often happens in the neck and lower back.
Superion Interspinous Spacer (Vertiflex)
This is an implant that lifts and separates your vertebrae. It’s used to treat lumbar spinal stenosis. That’s a narrowing of the space around your spinal nerves in your lower back. The Superion implant makes more room for these nerves, relieving painful compression.
Mild Procedure (Vertos Medical)
This procedure treats lumbar spinal stenosis. That’s a narrowing of the space around the spinal nerves in your lower back. The mild procedure makes more room for these nerves, relieving painful compression.
What Causes Spinal Stenosis?
Your spinal canal is formed by the opening in the center of each vertebra. This opening creates a passageway that protects nerves in your spinal cord. As the spinal cord travels through the canal, nerves enter and exit the canal through openings in your vertebral bones.
Spinal stenosis occurs when your spinal canal narrows. Several conditions cause spinal stenosis, including:
- Herniated disc
- Facet joint arthritis
- Degenerative disc disease
- Thickened ligaments
- Bone spurs
These conditions narrow your spinal canal by protruding into the open space. For example, a herniated disc can bulge into your spinal canal and a bone spur may grow toward the canal.
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What Symptoms Might I Experience Due to Spinal Stenosis?
Symptoms develop when spinal stenosis pinches the nearby nerves, a condition called radiculopathy. As a result, you’ll experience symptoms such as:
- Back pain or neck pain depending on the affected area of your spine
- Pain that radiates down your arm or leg
- Tingling and numbness in your arm or leg
- Muscle weakness in your extremities
Though it is rare, a severe case of spinal stenosis can cause bladder and bowel incontinence and extreme leg weakness. These are signs of a serious nerve problem that needs immediate medical attention.
How is Spinal Stenosis Treated?
Treatment for spinal stenosis is based on the severity of your pain and the underlying problem. Conservative care such as physical therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or oral steroids may help relieve your inflammation and pain.
Your doctor at Source Healthcare may recommend interventional treatments such as epidural steroid injections or facet joint injections, which may significantly reduce pain and often provide long-lasting relief. You may also benefit from a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to accelerate healing or stem cell therapy to repair damaged tissues by regenerating new cells.
The team at Source Healthcare also specialize in procedures such as:
Superion® Interspinous Spacer
Using a minimally invasive procedure, your doctor at Source Healthcare inserts the Superion implant between two spinous processes, which are the bony projections on the back of your vertebrae. The Superion gently separates the vertebrae, creating space that decompresses the nerves.
Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS)
A spinal cord stimulator uses mild electrical impulses to block or mask the pain signals being sent from your spinal cord to your brain. When your brain does not get the message, you do not feel the pain caused by spinal stenosis.
Expert Care, Expert Treatment
Expert treatment for back and neck pain caused by spinal stenosis is available at Source Healthcare. To get started, call the office or schedule an appointment online today.
