Spinal Stenosis: What it is and How to Get Help for It
Spinal stenosis is a condition affecting the inside of the spinal column. Your spine has a hollow space inside it to accommodate the spinal cord, the hub of the central nervous system and central message routing system for your entire body. In this condition, either the space enclosing the spinal cord or the openings that allow nerves to branch out from the spinal cord to the rest of the body get progressively narrower. The increasing pressure on the nerves inhibits their ability to send and receive signals properly, leading to limb weakness or numbness in various parts of the body. Sufferers may not feel their symptoms when seated, but they will find it difficult to stand, walk or maintain their balance, especially as the disease worsens. In extreme cases patients may even have trouble urinating or moving their bowels, a serious situation calling for emergency treatment.
What causes this potentially devastating condition? Spinal injuries or tumors can cause spinal stenosis to appear suddenly, but in many cases a pre-existing condition such as arthritis, bone disease, a history of disc herniations or even a minor spinal defect can allow it to develop slowly. The condition tends to progress with age as inflamed joints and ligaments enlarge and the intervertebral discs begin to lose their gel-like consistency. Stenosis may be cervical, occurring in the neck, or lumbar, occurring in the lower back.
Our Yorkville Chiropractor Can Help
Traditional medical treatments for the condition include surgery to remove pieces of the affected vertebrae or bulging/herniated disc or fuse the vertebrae together permanently. In some cases traditional medicine may indeed prove helpful, but more conservative treatments may also work quite well and allow you to avoid a surgical procedure. Our clinic uses advanced diagnostic techniques to make a detailed evaluation of your spine and determine which approach makes the most sense for you. For example, we regularly employ DMX, or digital motion x-ray, a diagnostic imaging technique that allows us to observe your spine and its many ligaments in motion under normal weight-bearing conditions.
If you do not require surgery, then chiropractic treatment offers a simpler, more affordable and all-natural alternative. At Advanced Physical Medicine of Yorkville, our team helps people with spinal stenosis by performing adjustments that re-align the vertebrae to take pressure away from affected discs. This realignment also relieves nerve pressure, reducing numbness and pain while allowing for better muscular support of the spinal column. We can help you regain strength, mobility and spinal stability so you can get back to enjoying your favorite activities.
You may also be a candidate for non-surgical spinal decompression, another technique we offer that gently creates space between vertebrae so that injured discs may heal. We have performed more than 10,000 non-surgical spinal decompression treatments with the DRX9000 machine. Patients travel up to 2 hours each way to come to our clinic for our non-surgical spinal decompression treatment program. Our success rate typically allows 9 out of 10 patients to be completely satisfied with their results. This success rate is similar to what the Mayo Clinic was able to achieve using the same type of machine that we use, DRX9000. Our decompression program is very affordable and is typically significantly less costly than other treatments. Most commonly, patients are able to continue to work which helps prevent loss revenue for them. After a qualifying evaluation, Dr. Berkey will let you know if you are a good candidate for the treatment. Non-surgical spinal decompression is successful at treating moderate to severe degenerative disc disease, disc bulges and herniations, sciatica, spinal stenosis, and pain traveling into your arms or legs.
If you would like to explore your options in treating your stenosis and you seek a Yorkville chiropractor, contact our office today for an appointment at (630) 553-2111.
