Counseling Sheet

By Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine

‍What to do for Spinal Stenosis‍

Be careful about your lifestyle, as a wrong lifestyle can intensify pain. Not drinking enough water can also intensify pain. Drink about 10 glasses of water every day to see if that will help.

Check your posture for sleeping. Be careful to keep your back in the "neutral position." That means that you should not be bent in any direction, but should have as neutral a position as possible.

White willow bark taken on a regular basis, whether you have pain or not, can also be very helpful, and can often control back pain. It has anti-inflammatory properties as well as anti-pain properties. A belt such as those worn by workers who must lift heavy loads may also be helpful to you.

If none of these helps, the use of Zostrix, an extract of red pepper, made into a cream, which you can obtain from a pharmacy, can also be very helpful. It must be rubbed onto the painful area 6 times daily for 6 days, then when the pain has diminished or disappeared, you can drop down to twice daily for an indefinite period, as long as the pain threatens to continue. The commercial cream is expensive, and you can make a substitute by simply putting one teaspoon of red pepper in a pint of rubbing alcohol and smearing it on after the pepper settles in the same way that you would use the Zostrix.

Exercises for the back include winging (lying face down and raising the head, arms, and legs off the floor behind one) and bridging (lying on the back, lifting the midsection of back off the floor, and supporting the weight on the heels and shoulders). Hold the exercise for 3 seconds the first day, and build up 1 second each day as the strength allows to 30 seconds.

Another exercise is bending forward from the hips to make a 90-degree angle, then bending to right side, back, left side and back to the front. Repeat 10 times daily, preferably out of doors.