All About Lateral Recess Stenosis

With our growing age, there occurs a lot of changes in the body and even the spine is not spared. Lateral recess stenosis is a condition where, due to narrowing of the foramen , a pinch-like feeling occurs in the spinal nerve. This happens because of the compression of the discs which makes the openings of the foramen so small, that ultimately the nerves get pinched against the vertebrae.


With age, the discs in our body lose the ability to act as shock absorbers and as a result the vertebrae bounce against one another and bone matter of the vertebrae begins to grow. This growth pushes the foramen and the spinal canal to become smaller. Ultimately, this causes the pinching of the spinal nerves.


Symptoms of lateral recess stenosis is generally intense pain and sometimes numbness or weakness in the legs. Often people are troubled by the fact, that while they suffer from acute pain because of lateral recess stenosis their peers who are of the same age are perfectly alright.


The answer to this question lies in the fact that everybody has a spine that is different from one another. While some have spines which are so strong that they do not even experience any kind of back pain till the time they die. Others have relatively weaker spines, which could suffer from acute pain even while lifting a box. We also have to look at some other factors which do play an important role, like weight , height , standing, or sitting postures and even the level of physical activity undertaken.


It is imperative to mention here that lateral recess stenosis is a disease that progresses with age and perfect cure is almost impossible. For mild cases, one can go for simple medications prescribed by a doctor and also some form of physical exercises like yoga, aerobics, and jogging can help to alleviate the pain. The severe cases need surgery – like decompressive lumbar laminectomy is the most preferred one. But before you go for surgery, do weigh in all the options available and do not take any decision in a haste.