Spinal Stenosis Overview

In this video, Dr. Jeffrey Wang, gives a brief overview of spinal stenosis. In simple, easy-to-understand terms, Dr. Wang will help you understand why some of us develop spinal stenosis. Dr. Wang is Chief of the Orthopaedic Spine Service at the Keck Medical Center of University of Southern California (USC) and Co-Director of the USC Spine Center.

Spinal stenosis develops when the nerve passageways at one or more levels of your spine narrow causing nerve compression. Sometimes spinal stenosis reduces the space in the spinal canal cramping the spinal cord. The most common symptoms include pain and odd sensations (eg, tingling, numbness).

When this disorder affects your neck, it is called cervical spinal stenosis. In the low back it is termed lumbar spinal stenosis. Symptoms may travel from the point of neural compression into the extremities (arms, legs). The causes of spinal stenosis are often age-related affecting older adults.