Let us learn about treatment of spinal stenosis, back pain, slip disc, sciatica and recovery after surgery for spinal stenosis from the best Neurosurgeon in Delhi, Meerut and western UP, Dr. Amit Bindal.

Seek immediate help for treatment of stenosis of spine, surgery for slip disc, endoscopic surgery for slip disc from the top Spine surgeon in Delhi and Meerut, Dr. Amit Bindal at Bindal Brain and Spine Clinics, Meerut, who has more than 15 years of expertise in spine surgery at affordable prices and best possible outcome.

Treatment of Spinal stenosis or lumbar canal stenosis

What is spinal stenosis?

As the age progresses, there are changes in the spine. These changes include disc degeneration, Bony overgrowth, aka, osteophytes, and also growth of certain issues around the nerve roots.

These changes and together causes narrowing of the spaces in your spine and compress the nerve roots and also the spinal cord.

These changes are known as lumbar spondylosis.

Sometimes these changes or severe and causes compression of nerves and spinal cord. This is called as spinal stenosis.

Where does spinal stenosis occur ?

The most common location for the spinal stenosis to occur is the lower back which is also called as lumbar canal stenosis.

The similar changes can occur in neck, which is also called as cervical spine stenosis.

What are the factors affecting spinal canal stenosis?

Most cases of spinal stenosis are age-related due to normal wear and tear of Spine , but sometimes patients with obesity, smoking, alcohol, excessive alcohol intake lack of physical exercise can have early development of stenosis.

What are the symptoms of spinal stenosis?

The most common site of stenosis is the lumbar canal. The symptoms include

Low back pain.
Sciatica
Numbness and heaviness in the legs on walking or standing. This is called Neurogenic claudication.

The symptoms include that, whenever a patient tries to walk, his or her legs, become numb and heavy and a person may not be able to walk. Further he will have to sit down and take rest for a few minutes to walk further .
This numbness and neurogenic claudication is sometimes associated with tingling sensation or needles and pin prick sensations.
The pain and numbness in both the legs may increase after standing for a long period of time, or walking or downhill or jogging, climbing down of stairs.
In very severe cases, there may be a loss of bladder or bowel control.

What are the symptoms of cervical spinal stenosis?

The symptoms include:

Neck pain
Numbness, pain, paraesthesia in arms and hands
Weakness of the hand or clumsiness in the hand.
Sometimes problem with the balance.
Loss of fine function in the hands, causing problems and Writing or buttoning and unbuttoning option

Can spinal stenosis cause permanent paralysis?

In severe cases, paralysis may occur.

The symptoms are not permanent and may go away completely after treatment or surgery.

But if the disease is ignored, no treatment is taken, the severity of the symptoms may increase and cause paralysis. These changes may be reversed in early cases, but sometimes they may not recover even after surgery.

What are the investigations to diagnose spinal stenosis?

MRI scan is the best investigation for the diagnosis of spinal stenosis.

Sometimes for better assessment of the spine and CT scan of the spine is also done.

When to visit a doctor?

Back pain can have a variety of causes, and most of the time, only a simple treatment is required. However, because early detection and treatment of serious ailments like spinal stenosis are crucial, consult your doctor about your back pain if:

It is persistent and developing.
It’s unrelated to activities.
You have a history of cancer and experience new back pain that is worse at night.
Nausea, vomiting, or lightheadedness.

Seek immediate medical help if you experience:

Increasing numbness or loss of sensation to touch, hot, or cold
Not able to walk or walking with difficulty
Loss of urinary sensations or stools
muscle weakness in your arms or legs
Changes in bladder or bowel function

Which doctor is ideal for the treatment of back pain and spinal stenosis?

A Neurosurgeon doctor is well trained to understand all the facets of back pain and spinal stenosis along with its treatment with medicines or operation if required.

How is spinal stenosis treated?

Treatment of spinal stenosis without surgery.

Most of the treatment in the early cases of lumbar canal, stenosis can be done with medications like.

Analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications.
Physiotherapy.
Hot fermentation.
Transformational steroid injections.
Hot fomentation etc.

Treatment of lumbar canal stenosis with surgery.

Sometimes a patient may not respond to the medications and physiotherapy. Then he will need surgery. The reasons for surgery include.

Unrelenting, pain or the symptoms or not responding to medications.

If you are not be able to live the quality of life you desire or can’t enjoy every day life activities.

What is surgical treatment of spinal stenosis?

Various surgical procedures which are required for the treatment of spinal stenosis include:

Laminectomy and decompression

This is the most common procedure employed for the treatment of lumbar canal stenosis. In this procedure posterior part of the spine and other soft tissues which causes compression over the spinal cord and nerves are removed via surgical procedure.

As only posterior part of the spinous process are removed, It does not cause any instability of the spine.

This procedure does not require any fusion procedure or use of plates and screws for stability of the spine.

Spinal fusion

Sometimes the compression of the spine is very severe and there is spinal instability associated with spinal stenosis.

In these cases, a spinal fusion surgery is done along with laminectomy and decompression.

What is the spinal fusion surgery?

Sometimes the spine is unstable, so rods and screws are inserted in the vertebra to stabilise the spine and fix it.

This is called spinal fusion surgery.

Those cases of severe lumbar canal stenosis which are associated with spinal instability also require this fixation procedure.

Is spinal surgery safe what are the risks of spinal surgery?

Every surgery have some small risk of inherent risks like infection, bleeding or very minor anaesthesia related complications. Sometimes they may be nerve injury.
Dural tear that is tear in the membrane that covers the spinal cord.
Failure of bone to heal.
Need for another surgery or revision surgery
No relief of symptoms or partial relief of symptoms.

But all these complications occur in less than 5% of the patients and 90% of the patients improve after surgery.

How do I prepare for the spine surgery?

Those patients who are willing to undergo surgical procedure for lumbar canal stenosis must take regular medication is for blood pressure.
Take regular medication for the control of sugar.
BP and sugar must be controlled before spinal surgery.
Those patients were taking any blood thinners must stop those medicines five days before surgery.
Those patients were heavy smoker or have heavy alcohol intake must limit their smoking and alcohol intake for a few days before the start of the surgery.
Patients must also start walking and have regular exercise so that the recovery after surgery is not delayed.

How long will I have to stay in hospital after spinal surgery?

Your total hospital stay shall be of 2 to 3 days.

Most probably you will be able to walk next day after surgery.

How long is the recovery period after spinal surgery?

Most probably, you will be able to walk the next day after surgery You go to the washroom independently, you may be allowed to walk slowly but freely.

After 10 to 15 days and after cutting of the stitches, you will be much better.

You may resume your office work after one and a half months.

Your doctor and surgeon will decide about your rehabilitation process, depending upon the type of surgery and the extent of surgery.

What is the cost of the spinal surgery?

We at Bindal Clinics believe in affordable health care for all.

Surgery for spinal stenosis at Bindal Clinics costs around around 80,000 rupees to one lakh rupees.

In big corporate hospitals in India this type of surgery costs anywhere between 2.5 lakh rupees and go up to 3 lakh rupees.

We operate with all the latest state of art gadgets like surgical Microscope, Endoscopic system, CUSA (cavitron ultrasonic aspirator), High Speed Drill system, neuronavigation etc.

We believe in the best possible outcome of spinal surgery for patients with spinal stenosis.

What are the outcomes of surgery for spinal stenosis?

More than 90% of the patients are improved after the surgery, have a very good functional outcome and return to their previous work.

Some patients may complain of mild pain or numbness after the surgery which usually subsides over the time.

Less than one percent of the patients require resurgery or any other complications.

Can there be paralysis after spine surgery?

No, usually up to 90% of patients recover fully after surgery.

There are very minimal chances of aggravation of paralysis after surgery. Sometimes if the nerve root is inflamed or due to surgical trauma rarely a patient may suffer from weakness of foot also known as foot drop.

When can I walk after spinal surgery for spinal stenosis?

Usually the patients start walking soon after the effect of anaesthesia wears off, or the next day. Usually the patient goes to bathroom next day walking without support.

For how long I will need rest after surgery?

Usually rest for 10-15 days, can do mild work after 15 days

Can go for sitting job after 20- 25 days.

Can return to original activities gradually after 2-3 mnths.

Can I lift weight after spinal surgery?

Yes, after months of surgery you can lift weights or be involved in strenuous activities

Experience state-of-the-art treatment at Bindal Clinics

We want the best for your brain and spine health here at the Bindal Clinics in Meerut.

Schedule a consultation to discuss more about the treatment of spinal stenosis, slip disc, sciatica and endoscopic surgery for spinal stenosis with the best spine specialist doctor in Delhi and Meerut, Dr. Amit Bindal, who has more than 15 years of expertise in Spine surgery with latest equipment at affordable prices.