PainCare - Pain Management in New Hampshire

What is spinal stenosis?

Spinal stenosis is another painful chronic condition that results from gradual spinal cord compression by severe narrowing of the spinal canal. The narrowing can be congenital but is usually acquired through increasing degenerative/bulging discs, increasingly enlarged arthritic facet joints, and thickened ligaments that surround the spinal canal.

The most common symptom of lumbar spinal stenosis is pain often described as deep, aching or cramping in the back, buttocks, thighs and legs. The pain is classically exacerbated by exercise. Pain is relieved by stopping the activity, forward flexing the back by sitting or bending over (which increases the space around the nerve roots and decreases tension on the nerve roots, thus relieving the painful compression of the nerve fibers).