If you’re diagnosed with foraminal stenosis and have uncomfortable or disruptive symptoms, our specialists will work together to create a treatment plan based on your needs. In most cases, your care will begin with conservative treatments. This will progress to surgery if needed.
For severe pain, your doctor may consider opioid medications like oxycodone or hydrocodone. However, these powerful but addictive pain relievers are typically reserved for short-term use due to their potential risks.
These common, over-the-counter medicines target chemicals responsible for pain, inflammation and fever, reducing their production to ease these symptoms.
You may find relief by limiting movement temporarily or avoiding certain activities, depending on which part of the spine is affected. Rest can be particularly helpful in reducing swelling and inflammation if the condition is caused by an injury. Your care team will work with you and provide guidance on which activities you may need to limit.
Physical therapy plays a crucial role in effectively managing chronic back pain. At UK HealthCare, physical therapy is an integral part of many spine treatment plans. Our spine specialists work with therapy experts who specialize in musculoskeletal care. Together, they create a plan tailored for your unique needs.
A physical therapist can:
- Create a personalized exercise plan to enhance your flexibility and range of motion
- Strengthen your core muscles to maintain proper alignment
- Improve your posture
- Educate you on correct movement techniques and modifications to use during pain episodes, helping you to engage in your favorite activities while reducing the likelihood of recurring back pain
If conservative treatments haven’t helped your pain, a targeted injection might offer short-term relief. This injection includes a steroid to reduce swelling around the nerves and a numbing medicine to ease pain right away. While a steroid injection is effective, it's important to note that the pain relief typically lasts for one to two months.
At UK HealthCare, interventional pain management is an integral part of many spine treatment plans. Our spine specialists work with pain management experts specializing in musculoskeletal care to create a plan tailored for each patient's needs.
In most cases, conservative treatment options provide relief for foraminal stenosis. If they don’t or if you have complications related to the condition, such as incontinence or weakness, surgery may be an option.
Whenever possible, we use minimally invasive surgical techniques. These can produce faster healing, reduced pain and smaller incisions. Talk with your care team about whether a minimally invasive procedure is an option for you.
During this procedure, your surgical team will remove a bone spur (osteophyte), a bony growth on your spine that can place pressure on your nerves and limit movement.
Before bone spur surgery on your spine, you will get general anesthesia to help you rest comfortably during the procedure. The surgeon will make an incision over the bone spur and move the skin and muscles to the side to access the spine and remove the growth.
After surgery, you will stay in the hospital until your anesthesia wears off. Some patients may need to be stay overnight. You will get pain medicine to help relieve any pain from the procedure. Once home, patients can typically return to light activities within a few days.
During this procedure, your surgical team will remove one or more facet joints. These are the joints that support the spine and allow for movement between individual vertebrae. Once the facet joints are removed, spinal cord and spinal nerve pressure are relieved.
Before your facetectomy, you will get general anesthesia to help you sleep without pain. The surgeon will make a one- or two-inch incision above the facet joint. Your surgeon will then move the skin and muscles to the side to access the bone and remove the impacted facet joints. Commonly, other procedures will be performed to treat herniated disks that impact the nerve roots. The surgery usually takes one or two hours.
After surgery, patients typically stay one or two nights in the hospital to recover. You will return home with pain medicine to help with any numbness, pain or spasms. You can usually return to low-impact activities within a few weeks. But you will need to avoid bending, lifting or twisting for up to six weeks.
During this surgical procedure, your foramen — the part of your vertebra where nerve roots exit the spine — are enlarged. This surgery relieves pressure on a compressed nerve.
Before your foraminotomy, you will get general anesthesia so you will sleep during the procedure. Your surgeon will make an incision in your neck or back above the affected vertebra. After moving muscles and ligaments to the side, your foramen bone will be cut so the nerve root opening can be expanded. The surgery usually takes about two hours.
After your anesthesia wears off, you will remain in the hospital overnight.
After surgery, most patients (more than 80 percent) get relief from pain caused by nerve compression. Full recovery can take up to a year, but you will be able to resume light activities within a month or two and return to work within six weeks.
During this procedure, your surgical team will remove damaged lamina — part of a vertebra in your spine.
Before your laminectomy, you will get general anesthesia so you will sleep during the procedure. Your surgeon will make an incision in your neck or back and move the ligaments, muscles and tissues to the side to access the lamina bones. During the procedure, your surgeon may remove:
- All or part of the lamina bones on each side of your spine
- The sharp part of your spine (the spinous process)
- Bone spurs
- Disk fragments
- Other soft tissues
In some cases, spinal fusion may be performed at the same time. The surgery usually takes one to three hours.
After your anesthesia wears off, your surgeon will encourage you to take short walks with help (if you didn’t have spinal fusion). You may remain in the hospital for a few days.
After surgery, many patients will experience either some or complete symptom relief, and you should be able to resume light activity after about four weeks.
During this minimally invasive procedure, a surgeon removes a portion of the back part of the spine, called the lamina. Laminotomy relieves pressure placed on the spinal nerves, usually providing pain relief within hours of surgery.
Before surgery, you may get a local anesthetic to keep you awake but numb during the procedure. Or you may receive general anesthesia so that you sleep.
You will lie face down as the surgeon makes an incision in the skin near the affected part of the lamina, drills a tiny hole into that portion of the bone, then closes the incision. In total, the surgery usually takes 60 to 90 minutes. But it may take longer if more than one vertebra is affected. After surgery, we’ll observe you as your anesthesia wears off and give you medicine to keep you comfortable. In most cases, patients can go home on the day of their surgery.
A spinal cord stimulator (SCS) is implanted with a minimally invasive procedure that involves placing a lead – a thin wire equipped with electrodes – near the spinal cord. The lead transmits low-intensity electrical pulses that interfere with pain signals before they reach the brain. This can offer significant pain relief. Compared with the risks associated with long-term opioid use, SCS offers a safer alternative for chronic pain management. Adjustable settings allow for personalized control of the stimulation level. This ensures optimal pain management for each person.