SPINAL STENOSIS

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WAYNE0

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Anyone here have spinal stenosis ? Ive been having some major back, upper but & left leg pain. Just the other day my left leg went numb. So took a trip to the ER. They said i have spinal stenosis. Great thats all i need. They gave me some scrips to fill. I take them & now the pain has eased up but my left foot stil has that tingly numbness feeling. Im hoping i can still do my body & paint work. I have alot of work ahead of me.
 
Sorry to read Wayne, I've got some bad back issues but doesnt sound as bad as your. I'm too thick headed to smarten up and lift properly or ask for help lol.
Your leg being numb is NOT good.
You need more than prescriptions?
 
Dang Wayne so sorry to hear that. My left arm does that exact same thing. The dr. is sending me to a specialist.
 
Yes. I had the surgery done in 2017 it offered some relief.
But I still go to a pain specialist for back pain.
 
My father had/has it. It is simply a narrowing if the "tube" that runs down the spine where the spinal cord is. When it narrows, it eventually rubs on some nerves in the cord yielding pain the the area where that nerve attaches. So although a pinch occurs say in the middle of your back, the pain may feel like it in in a lower part if your legs.
My father had surgery for this where they go in and mechanically open up the canal where the cord sits. You want a well-rested physisian as hes holding the spinal cord in 1 hand and a scalpel in the other carbing like in a pumpkin. Once done and healed up, good to go!! But his grew shut again 12 years later and he had to repeat the process. That was 20 years ago as he's 89 now. And it's starting to do the same thing again. No surgery again for him at that age...he just sits down after standing for maybe 10 min when it starts to hurt. Sit down for 5, then good to go for 10. Still plays golf as many times a week as he can get a kitchen pass from my mother!!
 
My father had/has it. It is simply a narrowing if the "tube" that runs down the spine where the spinal cord is. When it narrows, it eventually rubs on some nerves in the cord yielding pain the the area where that nerve attaches. So although a pinch occurs say in the middle of your back, the pain may feel like it in in a lower part if your legs.
My father had surgery for this where they go in and mechanically open up the canal where the cord sits. You want a well-rested physisian as hes holding the spinal cord in 1 hand and a scalpel in the other carbing like in a pumpkin. Once done and healed up, good to go!! But his grew shut again 12 years later and he had to repeat the process. That was 20 years ago as he's 89 now. And it's starting to do the same thing again. No surgery again for him at that age...he just sits down after standing for maybe 10 min when it starts to hurt. Sit down for 5, then good to go for 10. Still plays golf as many times a week as he can get a kitchen pass from my mother!!
Yep that is what they told me. I also have arthritis & DDD
 
I know a thing or two about Spinal Stenosis, the result of something we are all going to have , degenerative disc disease.
Get this out of the way, yes I have tried weed. I have several mental health problems, one of them is paranoia. Weed did not do nothing for me except make me extremely paranoid. Yes, I tried various strains. Former neighbor helped set up grow operations in several states so I had access to pretty much every strain there is.
Suggest you find an orthopedic doc that uses epidurals for diagnostic purposes, not just pain relief. This may help figure out exactly where your pain is located. Will also help if you decide to try and minimize your pain without numbing your brain, either thru Opioids or weed.
My L5 is herniated, out the front so it is compressing my spinal cord. Disc can not be repaired, fusion would have done nothing but limit my mobility and make other parts of my spine do what L5-S1 do, and that is give you rotation. I had severe sciatic pain down both legs and just a constant alternating pain in my lower back. I ended up with a spinal cord stimulator from Medtronics.
Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain
With in an hour of having the trial stimulator turned on my sciatic pain was gone. I also had a Vertiflex installed at L-3, mine is loose. This helped with the pain in my lower back some.
The Vertiflex™ Procedure† - Overview
I did develop another pain, higher up. T12-L1. Have had imaging done, no disc issues of any sort. Doc that did the sps suggested I go to PT and Massage Therapy, he felt that this pain is nothing more then a muscle pain from how tight and stiff I am. Have been going to PT for a while now, while it is helping I still hurt. Will be going to see a Massage Therapist sometime soon.
One thing that has helped me is stretching. I am far from flexible but I am making progress. I have been walking around with a jacked up back for 4 decades. One thing the human body does is if you have chronic pain your muscles tend to tighten up to try and support what is hurting. So stretch...hamstrings, hip flexors, etc.
Lived on Opioids for 2 decades. Have been off them for close to 3 months. If you can avoid taking them please do so.
Arthritis...a tag along of injuries. If you are really lucky you will end up with Pseudo Gout in your fingers and wrists. I can no longer straighten my fingers all the way out.
Needless to say depression often tags along with this crap. Prior to having the scs put in I had to go for a mental health evaluation. But I have a history of mental health issues and a suicide attempt in my background so. The doc at the pain clinic also stipulated that I go see a counselor that specializes in patients with ongoing pain. Have been seeing a shrink for most of my adult life so not a big deal for me.

Few things that several docs have told me...and I have seen this in a neighbor. If you are told that they want to go in and open the passages in your vertebrae up don't do it...unless the docs can assure you that your discs are completely dehydrated. If they are not you will be having the procedure done over and over. My neighbor made it 6 months from his first surgery before having to have it done again. Proceed with caution.

Finally, you have to accept that life style changes are probably going to be needed. I was told 0 jogging. Try to avoid stairs if possible. DO NOT FALL!!! Do not get like me and carry around an extra hundred pounds of fat.
Good luck.
 
Does it run in the Family?
While ddd is not hereditary we are all bound to get it. On all of my MRI reports congenital can be found every where. Short nerve endings etc. I spent my working life on my feet. 18 years of it at the USPS, bending/twisting/lifting. The bulk of done wrong. In my case it probably would not have mattered much as my troubles started with a hard dirt bike crash when I was 14-15. I highsided the bike at about 45mph and landed hip first on the wall of a berm. I am debating on having the big calcium/arthritis booger removed from my left hip. The booger is more then likely the result of the crash. I need a hip replacement on that side, doc that I have been seeing for it has suggested I just get my hip replaced.
 
Anyone here have spinal stenosis ? Ive been having some major back, upper but & left leg pain.

Yep, it is annoying to say the least. I have had a flare up for the past 10 days. It comes and goes with me, but at no time can I spend long times on my feet standing still, in short order my right lower back, butt cheek and down my right leg goes to hurting..............bad. It doesn't bother me as bad as long as I am moving, I get sore but I don't get the shooting leg pain most of the time. Be careful when out and about, those surprise pain shoots can drop you on the floor.

I suspect most of my issues are from "bed bugging" when I was younger, I moved furniture (people) when driving for Mayflower Van Lines. My shoulders a shot too..
 
The specialist wanted to cut me open.Therapy was expensive and wasn't working.Went to a chiropractor and she did pressure points and got me feeling better and I take Move Free ultra and I still hurt but can function.It may not work for you but that's what happened to me.Everyone is different.
 
I had a Laminectomy on L2-L5and it did help stop the pain and numbness down my right leg.
But I still go to a pain specialist and I had a RFA done on my left side two weeks ago and now I have a burning sensation on my left butt cheek down my left leg to my knee. I can't win.
 
Diet, hydration and stretching are the best solutions
 
Diet, hydration and stretching are the best solutions
Agree. I had went from being an auto mechanic,and standing at a lify bay for mosy of my young life to now spending 80 % of my time at a desk. I got older in the meantime but I think sitting for too long isnt good either for your back. Working out exercising seems to help loosen up the tight muscles,but really the painn just moves around,if it isnt ,my back, its my neck if it isnt my necks its my legs and feet etc. I still ahve alopt to do including getting my car back together its tough to keep motivated but I find in the summer when its warm/hot out the pains arent as bad as winter.
 
Have you tried these inversion tables?
Inversion Tables | FitSpine on TV | FDA Registered | Teeter.com

98A60A16-2C5D-4BE1-BF29-2E990BF4CC30.jpeg
 
Been dealing with it for the past year.

Symptoms started when I would reach over my head (90% of my current job is working on a lift, installing the hydraulic tilt systems on Amtrak's new high speed trains) and my legs would go numb. Figured it was a pinched nerve.

Went to doctor, full work up of x-rays and MRI's. L4 and L5 are inflicted, with a bone spur on each, facing opposite directions. Mine was diagnosed as congenital. Top that off with a bad right hip and it's constant pain from the lower back down to about my knees. Every once in a while I have problems with balance and have to remind my legs how to work.

Insurance approved PT, but not pain management. Taking gabapentin as a PRN, which means every morning before I go to work. Which is okay, since it also helps with the tendinitis in both shoulders.

PT helped in strengthening my core. Losing weight helped a bit more as the extra weight doesn't help. And I'm no where near my target goal, yet.

Sitting, standing, doesn't matter. It hurts. Laying down helps, but my legs go numb laying down, which combined with hot foot syndrome (yes, it's a thing) happens to be the most irritating part about it. That, and damn near falling on my face a couple of times a day.

Add in depression on top of that and it doesn't help. I'm an angry guy to begin with, so the pain just pisses me off even more. Keeping a positive outlook and just remember that's it's no one's fault so not to take it out on anyone.

And remember that it's just pain. Pain is transient. It might not be gone in this lifetime, but the next it will be.
 
I just had a steroid shot in my back, supposed to work in 2 to 3 days. This is the first shot, it doesn’t work my doctor wants me have surgery.
 
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