Cervical and Lumbar Canal Stenosis (Laminectomy and Laminoplasty)
Cervical spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal and/or the spinal nerve root passages in your neck. When this narrowing occurs, your spinal cord and/or nerves may become compressed and cause symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in your neck, shoulders, and extremities.
SymptomsSymptoms of stenosis in the neck can include:
Neck pain
Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the arm, leg, hand, or foot
Balance problems
Trouble using fingers and hands for tasks
Leg spasms
Loss of bladder or bowel control, in severe cases
CausesA common cause of cervical spinal stenosis is degeneration, or wear and tear affecting the anatomical structures in your neck due to aging. That’s why most people who have cervical spinal stenosis are adults in their 50s and 60s who may have had neck pain for several years.
Injury or trauma may also cause or contribute to the development of spinal stenosis.
Whether degeneration is natural (ie, age-related) or helped along by the long-term effects of previous injury, smoking, or poor posture, structural changes develop that alter spinal function.
The intervertebral disc is a good example. One or more discs may lose elasticity, resiliency to handle loads and forces created during everyday activities (eg, walking, lifting), disc shape may change, or discs may become thin and flatten (loss of disc height), bulge or herniate. These changes can affect the amount of space between two vertebral bodies, potentially narrowing nerve passageways (neural foramen) leading to nerve compression.