What is the best exercise for spinal stenosis?

If you're looking to add to your exercise regimen—and if your doctor has given you the green light—walking and swimming are both excellent exercises for lumbar spinal stenosis. You can even combine both activities by doing water walking.


Can spinal stenosis be cured with exercise?

If you are in pain from spinal stenosis, you probably don't even want to think about exercising. However, as counterintuitive or impossible as it sounds, exercise, stretching, and movement can help relieve your spinal stenosis pain. Exercise, stretching, and movement can help relieve your spinal stenosis pain.

What activities should be avoided with spinal stenosis?

Contact sports like basketball, football, soccer, and martial arts are exercises to avoid with spinal stenosis. These activities can involve sudden trauma to the spine, which may lead to further injury. Activities that involve jumping, such as jumping rope, should be avoided with spinal stenosis.


What stretches are good for spinal stenosis?

Flexion-Based Stretching Exercises for Spinal Stenosis
  • Gently pull the knees to the chest with both hands until a comfortable stretch is felt.
  • For a more advanced stretch, gently raise the upper back so that the forehead touches the knees.


Is climbing stairs good for spinal stenosis?

As a result, climbing stairs reduces the amount of space in the spinal canal. This temporarily exacerbates the effects of spinal stenosis, potentially leading to worsened pain and other symptoms.


Top 5 Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Exercises & Stretches - Ask Doctor Jo



Does sitting aggravate spinal stenosis?

Spinal stenosis is caused by a narrowing of your spinal canal. This narrowing can irritate the nerves that travel down your legs. Symptoms are typically worse when you walk. They often get better when you sit down or bend forward.

What is the newest treatment for spinal stenosis?

What are interspinous spacers? Interspinous spacers are a new approach to treating spinal stenosis that work gently and in a targeted way by opening the spinal canal to create room and reduce pressure on crowded nerves.

How do you stop spinal stenosis from progressing?

What can I do to prevent lumbar spinal stenosis?
  1. Get regular exercise. Exercise strengthens the muscles that support your lower back and helps keep your spine flexible. ...
  2. Maintain good posture. Learn how to safely lift heavy objects. ...
  3. Maintain a healthy weight.


Does lying down help spinal stenosis?

Spinal Stenosis

With this condition, it may be preferable to sleep on the sides with the knees curled up (in the fetal position). This helps relieve pressure on the nerve root. Sleeping in a reclining chair or an adjustable bed that allows the head and knees to remain elevated can also relieve pressure on the nerve.

How do you fix stenosis naturally?

Natural Treatments for Spinal Stenosis
  1. Exercise Regularly. ...
  2. Stretch to Maintain Flexibility. ...
  3. Maintain Good Posture and Consider Chiropractic Care. ...
  4. Try Physical Therapy. ...
  5. Dull Pain Naturally. ...
  6. Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet.


What makes spinal stenosis worse?

Spinal stenosis symptoms tend to worsen the more you walk without treating it since the leading cause is a contraction of the spinal cord, which irritates the leg nerves. The irritation of the terms causes inflammation, and so this should be part of the treatment.


Is standing or sitting better for spinal stenosis?

Bending forward or sitting will relieve the pain because these positions help to open up the spinal canal, but the symptoms recur if you stand straight again. Numbness and tingling can also affect you while weakness is less common.

What position should you sleep in with spinal stenosis?

Many people with spinal stenosis find the most comfort sleeping on their side in “fetal position” — that is, with knees curled up toward the abdomen. Another alternative is to sleep in an adjustable bed or recliner that allows the head and knees to remain elevated.

What is the latest treatment for spinal stenosis 2022?

The Vertiflex procedure for spinal stenosis (also called the Superion® implant) is a new way to increase the space between the vertebrae — space that may collapse as spinal stenosis progresses. This new procedure uses a small spacer inserted between the spinous processes (those bumps you can feel on your back).


What is considered severe spinal stenosis?

Stenosis is considered severe when it causes loss of certain functions or disabilities, or when other treatment options have failed to relieve symptoms. You should consult an expert neurosurgeon to assess your symptoms.

How can I strengthen my back with spinal stenosis?

If you're looking to add to your exercise regimen—and if your doctor has given you the green light—walking and swimming are both excellent exercises for lumbar spinal stenosis. You can even combine both activities by doing water walking.

What happens if you ignore spinal stenosis?

Spinal stenosis will cause pain in different areas of the body including the neck, lower and middle back, your buttocks and legs. You may not notice at the onset, but the pain will evolve slowly over time. Failure to address the symptoms will lead to a lifestyle filled with numbness, pain, and muscle weakness.


How can you tell if your spinal stenosis is getting worse?

Weakness in the leg or foot (as the stenosis worsens). Pain that worsens when standing for long periods of time, walking or walking downhill. Pain that lessens when leaning, bending slightly forward, walking uphill or sitting. Loss of bladder or bowel control (in severe cases).

Can you fix spinal stenosis naturally?

Can You Reverse Spinal Stenosis Naturally? Unfortunately, spinal stenosis isn't “reversible” without surgery. Once the spinal canal has narrowed, surgery is the only way to open it back up. However, it is often possible to experience lasting relief from spinal stenosis symptoms with natural treatments alone.

Can you live with spinal stenosis without surgery?

Many people with mild spinal stenosis find that nonsurgical treatments such as pain medication and physical therapy relieve symptoms and help them remain active. NYU Langone spine specialists work with experts in pain management, rehabilitation, and orthotics to create a treatment plan.


Can you avoid spinal stenosis surgery?

Most patients with cervical or lumbar spinal stenosis respond well to non-surgical treatments (such as medication), so you may not need spine surgery. However, there are situations when you may want to go ahead with spine surgery.

What is the long term prognosis for spinal stenosis?

Outlook (Prognosis)

Many people with spinal stenosis are able to be active with the condition, although they may need to make some changes in their activities or work. Spine surgery will often partly or fully relieve symptoms in your legs or arms.

Can a chiropractor fix spinal stenosis?

Chiropractic adjustments are a natural, non-invasive way to help stenosis that's aggravated or caused by a spinal misalignment. Manual adjustments can correct vertebral misalignment and disc displacement so that the facet joints, ligaments, back muscles, and bones experience less stress.


Can spinal stenosis affect bowels?

Lumbar spinal stenosis, a condition characterized by a narrowing of the spinal canal in your lower back, can also cause back pain, weakness or numbness in your legs, and loss of bowel or bladder control.

What is the best treatment for spinal stenosis NHS?

Spinal stenosis can often be treated by simple measures such as medicines for pain relief, keeping as active as you can and losing weight if you are overweight. Sometimes surgery is needed if simple measures are not successful. Very occasionally, some patient's with spinal stenosis may develop Cauda Equina Syndrome.