Decompression Surgery May Help Spinal Stenosis Sufferers

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Find out if you're a candidate for a minimally invasive alternative to open neck or back surgery

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Decompression Surgery May Help Spinal Stenosis Sufferers

Spinal stenosis is one of the most common back ailments for Americans in middle age and beyond. There are a variety of treatments for this condition, including decompression surgery, but before pursuing a fix for the condition, it’s important to understand why it occurs and what it does to the body. Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal, and it often results from natural wear and tear on the body. In some cases, a bulging disc will squeeze into the canal, reducing space for the spine or nerves. Other times, facet disease can cause the narrowing when extra bone builds up on the facet joints in an attempt to protect them as their protective cartilage deteriorates. There are other potential reasons stenosis occurs as well, but no matter the cause, the result is often tingling, numbness, and pain that can restrict mobility.

If you are diagnosed with stenosis, your doctor will likely begin treatment with several conservative techniques, including:

Over-the-counter medicines
Physical therapy
Stretches
Hot or cold compresses
Steroidal spine injections

If none of those ease your pain, your doctor may recommend a more invasive technique, like decompression surgery. In the case of spinal stenosis, this is most often a procedure called laminectomy, which involves removing the entire lamina, a bony plate on each vertebra that protects the spinal cord. This can result in pain relief, but it can also weaken the affected vertebra, requiring a fusion. A fusion joins the weakened vertebra to the adjacent vertebra for added support, but it also limits mobility. The fusion can result in more back pain for the patient. In addition, the entire decompression surgery (laminectomy and fusion) is highly invasive, comes with many risks, and often has a months-long recovery. But there are minimally invasive options for decompression surgery: laminotomy or foraminotomy at Laser Spine Institute. These procedures are used for different types of stenosis, but both are performed using endoscopic methods, making them minimally invasive, performed on an out-patient basis, and have fewer risks and a much shorter recovery than traditional decompression surgery.

If you are interested in the decompression surgery options for spinal stenosis at Laser Spine Institute, contact us today. We’ll be happy to review your CT scan or MRI for free.

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