Neural foraminal narrowing treatment can be divided between indirect and direct treatment methods. The narrowing of the holes of the spine can constrict the nerves passing through them (hence the term “neural”), and the key to addressing symptoms like traveling pain, muscle weakness, numbness and prickling sensations is to remove the pressure from the affected nerve. Indirect, conservative methods achieve this by nonsurgically adjusting the components of the spine or dulling the symptoms, while more-direct methods use surgery to address the narrowing itself.

Conservative treatment methods

In many cases, neural foraminal narrowing symptoms can be alleviated through a combination of conservative, nonsurgical therapies and lifestyle changes. It can be tough to predict which treatments will work for a person’s specific needs, so it is important for people to be patient when going through the usual trial and error period of treatment.

Although personalized treatment recommendations will depend on an individual’s medical history and the intensity of his or her current symptoms, here are some of the more commonly recommended treatment options:

• Medication
• Stretches
• Exercise
• Heat and/or ice therapy
• Corticosteroid injections

Some patients find that complementary and alternative medicine can also help. These options include therapeutic massage, yoga, acupuncture and other methods that may not currently be endorsed by the traditional medical community, but may prove useful for a given patient.

Spine surgery options

In more severe cases, or in cases where symptoms don’t get better with conservative treatments, surgery may be a possible foraminal narrowing treatment option. People who are thinking about having spine surgery to address their foraminal narrowing as directly as possible should know that they have two options — open spine surgery and minimally invasive surgery, which includes the approach taken by USA Spine Care. Whereas open spine surgery requires weeks or months of recovery time, our minimally invasive spine surgery is performed on an outpatient basis and requires no lengthy recovery.^{^}

For more information about the foraminal narrowing surgery options that we offer, contact USA Spine Care today. We will be happy to answer your questions.

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