Spinal Stenosis - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

chelsea13 · 11-26-2006, 01:49 PM

Hi There to everyone, Im new here and joined because my husband has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, he is having problems with his left leg numbness and also pins and needles in both arms and hands, his back is also very painful and he is suffering with alot of headaches,The doctor has advised he use a wheelchair as he has fallen a couple of times, will using it stop any more damage to the spine, he has problems sitting to long as his groin area goes numb as well, can anyone please give me some information about using a wheelchair will it help him... Thankyou for reading this...

PearlDoves · 11-26-2006, 06:25 PM

Welcome to the board Chelsea13! Sorry to hear about your husband's problem with his stenosis. I'm curious as to where his stenosis is. I too was falling and had stenosis via a bone spur and had Surgery called an Anterior Cervical Discotomy and Fusion of C5-C6, earlier this month. It sounds like he is in need of surgery. Hopefully he's been to see a Neurosurgeon or Orthopedic Surgeon by now. A wheelchair will help prevent him from falling so that he doesn't hurt himself further or make his symptoms worse because of a fall - which could potentially cause more damage to the spinal cord or nerves because of the shock of a fall, but I don't see how it would stop the actual stenosis from causing more problems in general over time. My neurosugeon had me start wearing a neck brace (because my stenosis was in my neck) and that helped give some releif for a little while, but after time, not even the neck collar could prevent me from falling anymore. The reason a collar works sometimes though is because it gives more stability to the spine - but I don't know if your husband has cervical stenosis or if its in a lower part of the spine. I hope some of this info helps. Good luck to you both and God Bless!

jentaylor728 · 11-26-2006, 09:32 PM

Hello,
Sorry to hear of your husband's condition...has he had an MRI yet. If not, it would seem to be (from the symptoms you describe) that it would indicate that it would suggest surgery.

I also had 2 herniated discs removed from my deck...they were compressing my spinal cord so severely that I had total body numbness (including my head) 24/7.

My orthopedic doctor referred me to a surgeon after 4 weeks of physical therapy and he did immediate surgery after doing another MRI.

Let me know if you have any questions....good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions of the doctors!

Jennifer

chelsea13 · 11-28-2006, 05:40 AM

My Husband has had a bad back for about 20years now, he has had minipulation under anasetic, body corsets, cortisone injections, acuputure, and traction, his last xrays showed spurs on the facet joints, and stenosis, the doctor has refered him to the surgeon at another hospital, and he is waiting on an mri scan at the momment, yesterday he didnt use his wheelchair and both legs went numb, its kinda scary stuff, i know is spine is crumbling as well from the top down and from the bottom up, it scares me to think he could be paralyzed as this is what the doctor has said, its really good having this site and being able to talk to people that understand what is going on, Thankyou for the replies........