[Seleydude]

#4728

I’ve been told I have spinal stenosis, I’m only 31 MRI report said I have multiple bone spurs from c2 to c6 and two bulging discs, not much pain but tingling in my left shoulder and arm, the neurosurgeon I went to told me to come back if I start falling or start dropping stuff and didnt recommend anything at all, one disc is rubbing against my spinal cord, can u recommend anything?

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#4732

Cervical spinal stenosis is significant narrowing of the spinal canal that the spinal cord occupies. The problem with spinal canal narrowing is that the canal changes in diameter with bending the neck forward and backwards. Forward bending generally increases the size of the canal and backward bending reduces the canal size. A fall and blow to the forehead can cause a backwards bending force that causes cord compression and possibly injury. The typical injury is a central cord syndrome (see website for description) which is not rare in falls with mountain biking, skiing and climbing in patients with cervical stenosis.

The problem we have as surgeons is that we don’t know how many people have the condition and fall without developing an injury so the risk is not quantifiable. You can’t be told that you your risk is 1% or 00.1%.

Your surgeon told you to look out for signs of myelopathy (see website for description) which is a “chronic pinching” of the cord. The cord needs to be surgically decompressed if that condition develops.

Tingling in the shoulder and arm is generally not from cord compression but from nerve root compression (see website for cervical foraminal stenosis). Strengthening the neck muscles in light of cervical stenosis can be helpful and if the tingling symptoms become annoying, epidural spinal injections can be helpful.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
 
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

[Seleydude]

#4734

Thank u for getting back to me, also when I do heads rolls I hear a bunch of grinding from back of my neck but it doesn’t make it hurt worse. I also have videos of my MRI on YouTube under the same username, I’ve been told yes and no by people bout going to a chiropractor, one recommended a cervical traction unit. I would hate to waste money that i don’t need to waste.

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