Spinal Stenosis

Miami Injury Attorney Justin Ziegler has had great success in achieving substantial amounts of money for injured accident victims who have spinal stenosis. Stenosis means narrowing, thus spinal stenosis refers to narrowing of one's spine. Spinal stenosis occurs when the pathways that the spinal cord and nerve roots move through become smaller. The pathways can become small enough that spinal cords and nerve roots become squeezed. Some physicians refer to the spinal cord and nerve roots becoming squeezed as compression.

Spinal stenosis has the ability to cause pain in a person's lower back, neck, legs, hands or even arms. The locations of pain are dependent upon the location of the "squeezing." Studies have shown that although spinal stenosis may occur in any region in the spine, it usually occurs in the lumbar spine (lower back) or the cervical spine (the neck). When people become older, the spine may narrow. Younger people can get spinal stenosis, and some people may never get spinal stenosis. However, for the most part, it is more prevalent in older humans.

Some doctors state that spinal stenosis may not even create pain. Although the channels in one's spine may become smaller, sometimes they do not push on the spinal cord or nerve roots. Without the pressing, there is no pain. Spinal stenosis can cause headaches, trouble walking, numbness in the arms, and weakness of muscles.

The human body has ligamentum flavum that change to the shape of the body as it is in motion. If a personal injury victim is sitting down, the spinal canal has increased area for the nerves. If an injured victim stands up, the ligamentum flavum becomes tinier and denser; thereby reducing the space for the spinal nerves. Because the ligamentum flavum are so mobile, people with spinal stenosis may feel less pain when sitting as opposed to moving around on foot.