Are you trying to understand why your ability to walk isn’t quite right, and you just have this strange, unexplained numbness in your legs, arms or possibly your shoulders? Perhaps it is time for a trip to the doctor for an evaluation.
If you have ever had a neck injury, it is entirely possible that you have caused a problem called cervical stenosis. The word cervical refers to the bones in the area of your neck. Stenosis, on the other hand, refers to the way the canal that your spinal column is in becomes narrower.
Putting the two words together refers to the fact that the bones in the neck area of your spinal column are becoming narrower, and causing problems for you. The end result can be quite a bit of pain.
1)Typically the stenosis is caused by some type of trauma—usually an injury such as in football, or in a car accident for example. That’s not to say that those are the only things that could possibly cause stenosis in the cervical area, they’re just two examples of many possible side effects.
2)Symptoms do not have to show up right after the injury though—they may wait months or years to show up. Sometimes, people are actually born with the stenosis already present in their neck, and it doesn’t present itself until their growth pattern really begins to start.
3)Calling your doctor when you aren’t exactly sure what’s going on is a good start to diagnosing cervical stenosis. Take the time to accurately explain to them just how you are feeling.
4)Remember, it is not normal to feel things like a burning sensation or pins and needles in different body parts. That symptom alone is one that the doctor really needs to know. Another is when you notice that your muscles feel weak, or that you don’t feel like you’re walking quite right.
5)Once you’ve brought these points up with your doctor, they’re likely to bring you in for an examination to determine what else might be going on. After making that determination, the doctor will decide what type of tests you may or may not need.
From that point, depending on the test results, the doctor is going to decide on one of several paths to treat you. One of those paths may be through medication only, but another may be through medication and some type of therapy.
Once you’ve gone through several different possible paths of treatment, your doctor will want to re-evaluate you. This re-evaluation of your cervical stenosis will include a re-examination, and of course, more testing.
After the re-evaluation, the doctor will decide how to proceed. Will you continue with other different types of therapy? Perhaps aquatic therapy, acupuncture or will you be on a regular prescribed routine of pain medication.
One other solution exists if you and your doctor are unable to come to a resolution—possible surgery. There are different types of surgery that may be offered to you, in order to solve the problem, so consider each type carefully before undergoing the ‘knife.’
