Have you been diagnosed with spinal stenosis? If so, you likely want to avoid heavy pain medications and invasive surgeries to relieve your symptoms and improve your physical function. At our Melbourne, FL pain clinic, we offer minimally invasive treatments for this degenerative condition so that you can feel better and experience no downtime after treatment.
What Is Spinal Stenosis?
Spinal stenosis is a chronic, degenerative condition affecting the bony vertebrae in the back. For many sufferers, it impacts the lumbar region of the spine, or lower back. This particular kind of spinal stenosis is termed lumbar spinal stenosis, or LSS.
In particular, spinal stenosis involves a narrowing of the spinal canal. This narrowing exerts pressure on spinal nerves and causes pain, numbness, or weakness in the legs or back.
Common Causes and Symptoms of Spinal Stenosis
The most common cause of spinal stenosis is age-related arthritis and the complications of arthritis. As we get older, our cartilage wears down due to years of movement in the joints. This wear-and-tear on the vertebrae causes bone spurs to form, spinal discs to bulge, and spinal ligaments to thicken.
These processes irritate and degrade the natural spaces within the spinal canal, compressing nearby nerves.
Symptoms of spinal stenosis include:
- Lower back pain
- Leg and buttocks pain
- Cramping
- Tingling or numbness in the legs
- Difficulty walking or standing for extended periods of time
- Leg weakness
- Poor balance
These symptoms can be debilitating and significantly impact daily activities, work and recreation. Most people with symptoms of this spine condition report that they experience some degree of symptom relief when they sit down or when they walk in a forward leaning position supported by a walker or shopping cart.
How Can My Back Pain Doctor Help Me?
Your back pain doctor will do a full diagnostic work-up in our state-of-the-art interventional pain clinic. Together, you will review your medical history and medications and carefully discuss your symptoms. Imaging and in-office nerve conduction tests can confirm the diagnosis of spinal stenosis.
Your back pain doctor has a number of treatment strategies which significantly relieve symptoms of spinal stenosis. These treatments give patients the quality of life and function they desire and deserve.
For instance, guided injection therapies deliver corticosteroids or anesthetics into the affected intervertebral spinal spaces. These injections reduce swelling and relieve pain and pressure on the nerves, allowing for improved mobility and function.
In some cases, your back pain doctor may recommend surgical intervention to address severe cases. This can involve removing excess tissue or bone which is compressing the spinal nerves.
Spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion stimulation interrupt the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Radio frequency ablation, or RFA, destroys the nerve endings which are associated with spinal stenosis pain.
At Central Florida Spine & Pain, we also offer qualified patients two innovative treatment options to alleviate lumbar spinal stenosis or LSS. Both procedures are minimally invasive and FDA-approved. They are safe and highly effective without the downtime of complex surgeries. Here are the details on in-office Vertiflex and MILD.
Vertiflex
The outpatient Vertiflex procedure is an alternative to surgery. Vertiflex provides long-term relief from LSS symptoms.
It involves making a small incision to placing a small titanium device between the affected vertebrae to create more space and to relieve pressure on the spinal nerves. This procedure has been shown to improve mobility, reduce pain and decrease the need for medication.
In fact, 80 percent of people who receive Vertiflex implants report a full 80 percent reduction in pain and other problems associated with LSS. The back pain specialist performs the insertion procedure through a very small incision and places the implant accurately with fluoroscopy-guided imaging.
MILD
MILD stands for Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression. During this minimally invasive outpatient procedure, Dr. Giordano removes the excess ligament tissue which is compressing the spinal nerves.
MILD does not involve general anesthesia or sutures. So, it is safe for those who may not be able to undergo traditional surgeries. MILD has been proven effective in reducing pain, improving mobility and increasing overall quality of life for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.
Effective Spinal Stenosis Treatments Near Me in Melbourne, FL
Don’t continue to struggle with the life-limiting symptoms of spinal stenosis. Call Central Florida Spine & Pain today for a helpful consultation with an expert pain specialist, Dr. Nicholas Giordano.
Dr. Giordano is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He is also fellowship-trained in interventional pain management. He has worked with numerous spinal stenosis patients and has given them the relief they deserve. You can have this experience, too.
Please call us today at (321) 802-5021 to arrange your visit in our Melbourne, FL, pain clinic. We are ready to serve you and all your pain management needs!
