Spinal Stenosis

Don’t let spinal stenosis reduce your quality of life. If you’re struggling with persistent neck or back pain, the spine specialists at Henry Ford Health can evaluate your condition and create a customized treatment plan.

Spinal stenosis care: Why choose Henry Ford?

Henry Ford makes it easy to get complete care from our integrated spine program. We offer:

• Experience: We have doctors with fellowship training in complex spine surgery, spinal injuries and sports medicine. This means you get access to specialists with extensive experience in back and neck care.
• Complete care: Our spine care team collaborates with providers throughout the Henry Ford network, including rehabilitation therapists, pain management doctors and oncologists. You receive complete care from one source.
• More treatment options: We offer nonsurgical and surgical treatments, from physical therapy to minimally invasive surgery. This range of options gives you more choices when it comes to spine pain relief.

What is spinal stenosis?

Spinal stenosis occurs when the spinal canal narrows and puts pressure on nearby nerves or nerve roots. It can happen in the lower back (lumbar spine) or neck (cervical spine).

The spine specialists at Henry Ford treat all of the conditions that can lead to spinal stenosis, including:

• Back injuries
• Bone spurs
• Degenerative disc conditions
• Osteoarthritis
• Spinal tumors
• Thickened ligaments

Spinal stenosis symptoms

When spinal stenosis causes nerve compression, symptoms can develop anywhere along the path of the nerve involved. Cervical stenosis can affect the neck, shoulders, arms or hands. Lumbar stenosis may cause symptoms in the lower back, hips, buttocks, legs and feet.

Common symptoms include:

• Cramping
• Instability
• Numbness
• Pain
• Weakness
• Bladder or bowel issues, in severe cases

Spinal stenosis diagnosis

Henry Ford spine specialists uncover the root cause of your spinal stenosis. We perform a physical exam and carefully review your symptoms and medical history. If imaging exams are necessary, we can refer you to any of our Henry Ford Radiology & Imaging locations throughout southeast and south central Michigan.

We offer:

• CT scans
• MRIs
• Myelograms, or X-rays that focus on nerve problems
• Nerve conduction testing
• X-rays

Nonsurgical spinal stenosis treatment

Whenever possible, we want you to find relief from back or neck pain without surgery. Nonsurgical treatments for spinal stenosis include:

• Integrative medicine: Acupuncture, yoga and massage are just a few of the ways to relieve spine pain while enhancing your overall wellness.
• Pain management: Therapeutic injections can temporarily relieve spine pain, making it easier for you to do physical therapy and rehabilitation.
• Physical therapy: Spine rehabilitation can restore mobility, stability and functionality in the neck and back.

Learn more about your options for nonsurgical spine treatments.

Spinal stenosis surgery

Depending on the location and severity of your condition, we may recommend the following types of spinal stenosis surgery:

• Laminectomy: Your surgeon uses a high-speed drill to remove part of the lamina, which is the bony “roof” of the vertebra. Also known as spinal decompression, this procedure opens up the spinal column to relieve nerve compression.
• Laminoplasty: Typically reserved for younger patients with stenosis in the neck, laminoplasty reshapes and realigns the bones in the cervical spine.
• Spinal fusion: This procedure fuses two or more vertebrae together to maintain the spine’s stability and alignment. Fusion is usually reserved for severe stenosis in the lower back.

In some cases, we can perform these procedures using minimally invasive techniques. Learn more about spine surgery at Henry Ford.

Take the next step

Connect with a Henry Ford spine specialist to find lasting relief from spinal stenosis pain. Request an in-person or virtual appointment.