Spinal stenosis — or narrowing around the nerves in your spine due to arthritis — is one of the most common problems treated by surgery. Here’s the top 3 things you should know about spinal stenosis:

1. Many people over the age of 60 have symptoms from spinal stenosis, which can include back and buttock pain; leg pain; leg heaviness or fatigue; numbness in the legs; difficulty standing up straight; or difficulty walking long distances. To compensate for the symptoms, many patients prefer to lean forward while walking (e.g. leaning on a cart at the grocery store), or others look for places to sit down periodically. These symptoms are not simply “back pain”; rather, they are specific symptoms as a result of narrowing around the nerves in your lower lumbar spine.

2. Spinal stenosis is usually due to arthritis in our spine. Just like our hips, knees, and hands, we lose cartilage in the moving parts of our spine, which leads to bone spurs and other changes that put mechanical pressure on the nerves in our spine. These changes are most common in our 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s and beyond. Some patients, however, are born with a smaller diameter spinal canal — a condition called congenital stenosis — and can develop symptoms in their 40s’s and 50’s.

3. If you have spinal stenosis, it’s very treatable. Patients with mild symptoms might do well with ibuprofen and physical therapy. Others may benefit from epidural steroid injections for temporary relief of symptoms. Long term, however, most symptoms tend to recur and research has shown that most patients benefit most from surgical treatment. Depending on your specific imaging findings (e.g. MRI), treatment typically includes a decompressive laminectomy to remove arthritis and create more space for the nerves in your lower lumbar spine.