Spinal Stenosis; Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

Can Spinal Stenosis be Prevented?

Spinal stenosis is a complex disease with many risk factors as mentioned above, but several common problems that occur in our daily life increase your risk of developing the condition including incorrect posture and lifting objects improperly. The following measures can be done to decrease your risk of having back conditions in general and spinal stenosis in particular:

1. Strengthen your back muscles by regular exercise: Muscles are the main support of the joints around them, and the stronger the muscles, the less stress is placed on the joint.
2. Eat healthy food and keep a healthy weight: One of the commonest causes of back pain is the weight it has to carry, including the belly, which places significant stress on the lower back.
3. Do not carry objects from the ground while bending down: This will put all the weight on your lower back. Instead, use your knees and legs for that, squat while keeping a straight back and then lift them up by your thigh muscles.
4. Keep a correct posture, especially when sitting for extended periods of time: The best position to sit in is slightly leaning backwards, and hunching is the worst. Also, it is advisable to sit on a chair with a soft back for long period.
5. If you work in a typing job, do not bend your neck on the keyboard and try to keep your face looking at the screen to reduce neck pain.