Spanish
Korean
How Dangerous is Cervical Spinal Stenosis?
Cervical spinal stenosis is a common cause of neck pain. It is when the spinal canal in the neck area or upper part of the spine begins to narrow. During this narrowing process, pressure is placed on the spinal cord and can cause very significant concerns.
Can Cervical Stenosis Cause Fatigue?
Fatigue is one symptom that can be caused by cervical spinal stenosis from the pressure put on the spinal cord or nerves. The goal of surgical intervention is to help remove pressure placed on the spinal cord or nerves to help combat the pain and fatigue it is causing.
Other symptoms associated with cervical spinal stenosis are the following:
- Hand clumsiness
- Gait and balance disturbance
- Neck pain
- Tingling, “pins and needles”, and burning sensations
- Problems with bladder and bowel
Severe cases could also have more rare symptoms such as a significant loss of function or paraplegia (having paralysis of the legs and lower body).
Is Cervical Spinal Stenosis Progressive?
Cervical spinal stenosis can worsen over time if it is left untreated. Damage to the spine and body will increase as pressure on the spine can weaken soft tissue surrounding it. The nerves that are compressed will also send mixed brain to body signals or, sometimes, not at all. This disturbs the body’s natural function of healing and repairing itself from injury or fighting off against disease.
Can Spinal Stenosis Cause Death?
When cervical spinal stenosis is left untreated, it can lead to substantial and permanent nerve damage – this nerve damage can lead to paralysis and death. It is important to not ignore treatment options for cervical spinal stenosis as it can begin to do a lot of damage to the body before it reaches to the point of causing paralysis and possibly death.
If you are experiencing symptoms of cervical spinal stenosis, please seek a professional right away.
Does Spinal Stenosis Get Better?
Believe it or not, cervical spinal stenosis can get better if the person undergoes an effective treatment. There are medication and surgery options, usually made to combat the symptoms of cervical spinal stenosis such as pain and fatigue. Keep this in mind when considering these treatments.
Surgery’s goal for treating cervical spinal stenosis is to relieve pressure placed on the spinal cord or nerves by increasing the amount of space within the spinal canal.
Medication prescribed for cervical spinal stenosis may include the following:
- Pain relievers - Usually prescribed for a short amount of time as there is not much evidence of benefits from long-term use.
- Anti-seizure drugs - These help reduce pain caused by the nerves that are damaged.
- Opioids - Not for long-term treatment and are used for short-term pain relief.
- Antidepressants - Prescribed to help with chronic pain.
Medication and surgery do have their side effects. Sometimes some symptoms dissipate as other symptoms worsen, stay the same, or encourage different ones to start.
There is a natural treatment, however, than can completely help in targeting the underlying cause of cervical spine stenosis rather than focusing on the symptoms. Read below for more information about how cervical spinal stenosis can go away.
Does Cervical Stenosis Require Surgery?
Cervical spinal stenosis does not require surgery unless it is severe and all other options have not been effective. It is recommended to try natural treatments before surgery.
Surgery helps reduce cervical spinal stenosis most of the time; however, there are patients who report their symptoms have stayed the same or have worsened after their surgery. There is also risks of infection, blood clot, neurological deterioration, and a tear in the membrane that covers the spinal cord.
Because of the risks and uncertainty of symptoms being helped with surgery, we recommend natural treatments to be taken into consideration before such a big decision.
Does Cervical Spinal Stenosis Go Away?
Cervical spinal stenosis comes from the pressure placed on your spinal cord and nerves. As soon as this is seen by a doctor, they may recommend treatment options right away even before you have severe symptoms of weakness, pain, or numbness.
This is because this pressure can damage your bodily functions and cause permanent damage down the line if left untreated.
An all-natural treatment called upper cervical chiropractic can help treat the symptoms and the underlying cause of your cervical spinal stenosis. Upper cervical chiropractic is much different from general chiropractic. In fact, many patients report having experience with a general chiropractic for many years and then respond very surprised in the results they have from the upper cervical technique.
This is because upper cervical chiropractic focuses on the most important part of your spine, the upper cervical spine. The upper cervical spine protects your brain stem and encourages the alignment of the rest of your spine.
This means if any of your upper cervical bones are misaligned, the rest of the spine will follow and move itself out of alignment – which causes more vertebrae to compress against more areas down your spine.
When the upper cervical misalignment is adjusted, pressure it taken off the brain stem immediately – allowing the brain to body communication to be restored so the body can begin its repairing and healing process.
When these signals are restored, they also encourage your bodily functions to return to normal. In addition, correcting the misalignment encourages the rest of the spine to follow its lead and align itself. During this process, it is common for the patient to become sore from the spine moving to correct itself, so drinking plenty of water and getting rest is important to help the body go through this healing process.
The spine will begin to take pressure off the spinal cord and nerve roots while it realigns, thus, taking away symptoms associated with them such as pain, numbness, balance issues, muscle tension, headaches, balance issues, and more.
Can Cervical Spinal Stenosis Be Cured?
This all depends on the person’s body. Many patients who have undergone upper cervical treatments have seen great improvements in their conditions in as little as one adjustment. Depending on the severity of the misalignment and how long it has been around, it may take longer for some symptoms to improve.
Just because a symptom you notice has not been improved right away does not mean nothing is happening though. Upper cervical adjustments allow the brain stem to restore brain to body communication and send the right signals back and forth to begin your healing process; so it is very common for patients to have other symptoms that are not associated with cervical spinal stenosis to disappear or improve as well.
Upper cervical adjustments have helped with nerve damage, pain, balance, bodily functions (such as breathing, bowel, and digestion), migraines, and much much more. Many patients have stopped medication or no longer needed surgery after undergoing an upper cervical treatment.
If you have cervical spinal stenosis and at a loss of where to begin treatment, upper cervical is a gentle and safe natural option that can really help without the side effects of medication or risks involved with surgery.
We would like to invite you to accept our invitation for a free 15 minute phone consultation to speak with one of our upper cervical chiropractic doctors where you can ask any questions you may have and decide if an exam or care might be right for you.
If you are interested, you can call our office at (843) 225-5855.
Leave a comment