Home  More about neck pain Overview of Spinal Stenosis
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Overview of Spinal Stenosis |
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Spinal stenosis is a general term referring to the narrowing of spaces in the vertebral column. Anatomically, individual vertebra interconnect in several places, making canals and holes through which nerves and the spinal cord pass. In spinal stenosis, pressure is put on the nervous tissue that traverses these openings. Because the nature of nervous tissue is to provide sensation, this pressure causes pain.
While spinal stenosis can be caused by many factors, most cases are due to aging and the related presence of osteoarthritis. When osteoarthritis of the spine develops to the point where the intervertebral disk has worn away and bone rides on bone, the body attempts to remedy this painful condition by forming bone spurs. Depending upon their location, these bones spurs may compress the spinal cord and/or nerve roots.
Another aging-related way stenosis develops is the degenerative changes in spinal ligaments. Spinal ligaments stiffen and thicken over time in many people. This, in turn, compresses and shortens the spine. The compression will put pressure on the nerve roots, and will likely cause pain.
About 75% of spinal stenosis cases are lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).
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