The problem is firstly assessed by your GP who makes a clinical diagnosis, then usually asks the opinion of a hospital specialist, who assesses & requests an MRI scan & or rarely CT scan which confirms the problem.Ĭentral canal stenosis at one place (level) in the lower back. This leads to the pain on walking, as the tunnels in the spine are smaller when you are erect, but larger on sitting with the spine bent. The nerves within the spine are both compressed by the constriction & also their blood supply is temporarily reduced by the compression. Normal central canal - Narrow central canal Clinical Effects Practically speaking the symptoms of each or these two types are essentially the same. Others suffer a slightly different constriction to the smaller side tunnels with the spine which is called “foraminal stenosis”. Sometimes these changes lead to a partial constriction -or a “stenosis”- of the nerve tunnel within the spine which is called the central canal that is “central stenosis”. Usually as part of the natural aging process we develop degenerative change in the lower back. (Back pain is not the same however and increased back pain on walking is not a feature of spinal stenosis.) Some also get these symptoms on standing.Īlso usually patients have no pain in the leg at rest. Most find that sitting down or leaning forward enables them to recover so that they can then walk again. Common causes are vascular due to narrowing of the blood vessels or spinal due to bone overgrowth causing a reduction in the space for spinal nerves.Ĭlassically the sufferer can walk a certain distance (sometimes 50m or further- say -500m) and then they need to stop because the pain & numbness intensifies.

Most typically it occurs as you walk a pain and will cause numbness or weakness or feelings of unsteadiness sometimes in both legs sometimes in just one.Ĭlaudication is the term used by doctors for weakness of the legs that gets worse specifically on walking. The symptoms experienced are those of back pain and leg pain. Spinal stenosis is quite a common problem particularly with older people, (however it can affect younger people but more rarely.)

Narrowing that affects the spinal cord is also sometimes called a myelopathy. Spinal stenosis is a term used to describe a narrowing of the spinal canal that gives rise to symptoms of compression of the spinal nerves or sometimes the spinal cord.

Narrowing of the spine