Spinal Stenois, my dad, and a lost vacation.

April 27, 2005 6:01 PM

Anyone here with experience/treatment options for Spinal Stenosis?

My 74 year old father has a bad case of Spinal Stenosis. He's already had 3 operations for it, and it has returned with a fury. Sadly, he's had to cancel a trip to Portland (guess I don't have to clean the house for mom now) and can barely walk. Maybe he needs a second opinion - lucky bonus points if help can be located in upstate NY.

posted by TomSophieIvy to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Unfortunately, spinal stenosis effects us all as we age, although some, like your dad, are not able to do simple tasks in ADL.

You say your dad has had surgery several times for it, but what other sorts of therapy has he received? Medications? Physical Therapy? Massage? Chiropractors? Osteopaths?

All are possible ways to manage the condition and give him some level of function back.

note: I work in health care but am not a doctor.
posted by nyxie at 8:10 PM on April 27, 2005

Response by poster: Dad has had 3 operations, many bouts of physical therapy, and rounds of meds (it appears the side effects were too much because the meds had to be quite strong). This is a tough guy we're talking about - not in the 'afraid to show emotions' way but a rugged man who is...getting old. He has seen a chiropractor (not much luck), and I sense a frustration in him never seen before.
posted by TomSophieIvy at 8:32 PM on April 27, 2005

I know a 77 year old man and an 84 year old woman who suffer from spinal stenosis. Both have been told by their doctors that there is no further treatment; that pain management is their future. The man's chiropractor also will not treat him because of ineffectiveness. Sorry.
posted by Cranberry at 12:06 AM on April 28, 2005

Previous AskMetafilter thread on spinal stenosis.
posted by Asparagirl at 12:53 AM on April 28, 2005

A friend of mine told me he has the dreaded SS. I'm very interested in hearing from others whom have found ways to deal with this. If any.
posted by telstar at 1:10 AM on April 28, 2005

Response by poster: Asparagirl - the google search showed no results for stenosis. I'm a 'best bet' kind of fella with stuff like that.
posted by TomSophieIvy at 5:47 AM on April 28, 2005

Spinal stenosis is hard to fix. After 3 operations I'd say it's probably not going to be fixed. The medicines are for symptom relief; they don't do anything to alter the underlying problem, which is a mechanical one. Since you don't mention which part of the spine the stenosis is in (neck or lower back), it's hard to give a better explanation.

I blame the design engineer of the human back - how this thing ever got out the door baffles me.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:35 AM on April 28, 2005