Epidural steroid injections are not always successful in relieving symptoms of inflammation. They are used only when conservative treatments have failed. Surgery Spinal stenosis may continue to get worse over time. Eventually, surgery may be considered as a treatment option. The pain becomes unbearable Because spinal stenosis is more common in the elderly, one of the considerations for suggesting surgery is your overall physical condition.
Back surgery is major surgery.
If you have serious medical problems, your doctor may not feel it is worth the risk to undergo spinal surgery. The decision to have surgery should be a joint decision between you, your spine surgeon, and your regular medical doctor. The main goal of any surgical procedure used to treat spinal stenosis is to remove the pressure on the nerve roots in the lumbar spinal canal. This means that the tube of the spinal canal must be made bigger and the bone spurs that are pushing into the nerve roots must be removed. This type of surgical procedure is usually called a decompression of the lumbar spine or a decompressive laminectomy of the lumbar spine.