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Spinal Stenosis
Reviewed by Medicinsk Expert•Last updated: 2026-10-22•Bones Joints Muscles

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal that compresses nerves and can cause pain, especially in people over 50.

Overview

Your spine, or backbone, protects your spinal cord and allows you to stand and bend. Spinal stenosis causes narrowing in your spine. The narrowing puts pressure on your nerves and spinal cord and can cause pain.

Symptoms

Symptoms might appear gradually or not at all. They include:

  • Pain in your neck or back
  • Numbness, weakness, cramping, or pain in your arms or legs
  • Pain going down the leg
  • Foot problems

Causes & Risk Factors

Spinal stenosis occurs mostly in people older than 50. Younger people with a spine injury or a narrow spinal canal are also at risk. Diseases such as arthritis and scoliosis can cause spinal stenosis, too.

Diagnosis

Doctors diagnose spinal stenosis with a physical exam and imaging tests.

Treatment & Management

Treatments include medications, physical therapy, braces, and surgery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Spinal stenosis is largely a degenerative condition related to aging, so it cannot be entirely prevented. However, maintaining a healthy weight reduces the mechanical load on the spine, potentially slowing the progression of narrowing. Regular low-impact exercise, such as swimming or cycling, helps maintain spinal flexibility and strengthens the core muscles that support the spine. Avoiding high-impact activities that stress the spine and managing conditions like osteoarthritis can also help minimize the rate at which the spinal canal narrows.
Symptoms of spinal stenosis, particularly in the lower back, are often worsened by standing for long periods, walking downhill, or extending the spine backward, as these actions further narrow the spinal canal. Conversely, leaning forward, such as when pushing a shopping cart or sitting, typically opens the canal and relieves pressure. To manage this, patients should avoid prolonged standing and use a walker or shopping cart for support during walks. When sitting, maintaining a slight forward lean can help alleviate leg pain and numbness.
While both conditions can cause leg pain, spinal stenosis typically presents with neurogenic claudication, where pain, numbness, or weakness in the legs worsens with walking or standing and improves with sitting or bending forward. A herniated disc, on the other hand, often causes radicular pain that is sharp and shooting, and may be exacerbated by coughing, sneezing, or bending forward. Stenosis is a chronic, degenerative narrowing that affects multiple nerve roots, whereas a herniated disc is often an acute event affecting a single nerve root, though both can coexist in older adults.
Conservative treatments like physical therapy and medication are usually tried first. Signs that surgery may be needed include progressive muscle weakness in the legs, such as foot drop, or loss of bowel and bladder control, which are medical emergencies. Additionally, if pain becomes severe enough to significantly limit daily activities despite consistent physical therapy and medication, or if the pain does not improve after 3 to 6 months of non-surgical management, a surgeon may recommend decompression surgery to relieve nerve pressure.
Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine

MedlinePlus brings together authoritative health information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations.

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