Suffering from chronic back pain, sciatica, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the legs? You may be struggling with spinal stenosis. This common condition occurs when the spinal canal gradually narrows, often due to age-related spinal degeneration. As a result, spinal tissue can impinge on nearby nerves, triggering pain and neurological symptoms.
Thankfully, many minimally-invasive treatments are available for spinal stenosis. Especially when the condition is diagnosed soon after symptoms appear, these treatments can effectively ease pain and inflammation.
Read on to learn more about the most common non-surgical treatments for spinal stenosis.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy involves targeted exercises, stretches, and complementary treatments to improve patients’ strength, mobility, and pain levels. PT focuses not only on improving patients’ spinal stenosis symptoms but also on preventing future discomfort. This is achieved through exercises that strengthen the muscles that support the spine (the core and back muscles) and stretches that improve spinal mobility.
Your physical therapist can also identify imbalances or irregularities in your movement patterns and help you resolve them. This will reduce the strain on your spine with day-to-day movements.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care focuses on improving the alignment of the spine and restoring the proper flow of energy throughout the body. This reduces the pressure on spinal nerves and facilitates circulation to the spine, allowing healing oxygen and nutrients to reach the damaged tissue.
For spinal stenosis, your chiropractor may perform manual adjustments, non-surgical spinal decompression, and various other treatments. Your chiropractor can also offer nutritional and lifestyle counseling to facilitate the healing process.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is rooted in ancient Chinese medicine. It involves inserting thin needles into specific points on the body to stimulate the natural healing response. This treatment can improve spinal stenosis symptoms by reducing inflammation, stimulating tissue recovery, and promoting relaxation.
To learn more about these effective spinal stenosis treatments, schedule an appointment at Florida Wellness Medical Group today!