Symptoms

Many people, especially those older than age 50, have some narrowing of the spinal canal but don't have symptoms.

Symptoms occur when the nerve roots get squeezed.

Leg pain

The most common symptom is leg pain that happens when you walk or stand and feels better when you sit. You feel pain in your legs, because the nerve roots that pass through the lower spine extend to the legs.

People often have leg pain when the spine is extended—when they are standing straight or leaning backward, for example.

And they often feel better when the spine is flexed—when they are sitting, walking uphill, riding a bicycle, or leaning over a grocery cart, for example.

People with severe stenosis may have a habit of leaning forward in a stooped position to relieve pain.

See a picture of nerves commonly affected by spinal stenosis.

Other symptoms

Other symptoms may include:

• Numbness, weakness, and cramping in the legs, feet, or buttocks.
• Stiffness in the legs and thighs.
• Low back pain.
• In severe cases, loss of bladder and bowel control.

Several other conditions have symptoms similar to spinal stenosis.

What Happens

Lumbar spinal stenosis usually starts gradually and gets worse over a long period of time. Narrowing of the spinal canal can squeeze and irritate the nerve roots that branch out from the spinal cord. This is what causes pain and other symptoms.

Stenosis occurs most often in the lower back (lumbar) area. When it occurs in the neck, it is called cervical spinal stenosis.

The course of spinal stenosis varies—it may stay the same, get better, or get worse.

Severe disability isn't common. But when symptoms are very bad, they can keep you from doing your normal daily activities. They can have a big effect your quality of life. If symptoms are still severe after you have tried other treatment for a while, surgery may be considered.

Surgery may be too risky for some older adults who have other serious health problems.