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Spinal Stenosis
Causes of Spinal Stenosis
Your spine, commonly known as the backbone, is a long column of bones that guards your spinal cord from a mechanical injury. It allows you to bend, stand and sit. Spinal Stenosis is a medical term utilized to illustrate a condition resulting from the narrowing of the spaces in the backbone. The spaces in question consist of the spinal canal that runs along the centre of the backbone and houses the spinal cord, the spaces/canals along the spine through which the nerve roots/bases branch out of the spinal cord and the spaces between the vertebrae (bones that collectively make up the spine) through which nerves level the spine and are distributed to other parts of the body.
The pain or numbness experienced by those suffering from spinal stenosis results
from the pressure applied on the nerves and spine due to the narrowing.
Spinal Stenosis: Acquired or Inherited
Spinal stenosis occurs as a result of other conditions that can either be acquired or inherited. Inherited conditions include being born with a small spinal canal, scoliosis (being born with a spinal curvature) and achrondorplasia (condition characterized by defective born formation resulting in short and thick bones therefore reducing diameter of vertebrae).
There are various acquired conditions that can result in spinal stenosis. Degenerative conditions are common among men and women over the age of 50; they are the most common cause of spinal stenosis. These conditions increase gradually and are a result of the degenerative ageing process. They include osteoarthritis (wearing away of cartilage discs) and rheumatoid arthritis (inflammation and swelling of soft tissues in the joints).
Spinal Stenosis: Non-Degenerative
Spinal stenosis can also develop as a result of acquired conditions that are not degenerative. These include trauma (accidents that result in spinal injury), tumors of the spine, ossification (deposition of calcium in the ligament that runs inside the spinal canal forming fibrous tissue within the spinal canal resulting in narrowing of the spinal canal) flourosis (accumulation of excess fluoride in the body as a result of continued ingestion of water containing fluorine resulting in calcification of spinal ligaments or softening of spinal bones) and Padget’s disease of the Bone (chronic disorder that results in the enlargement of bones).
Article December 13th, 2010
Spinal Stenosis by Flobax.com
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