Spinal Arthritis Management: 5 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Developing Stenosis

May is Arthritis Awareness Month, making it a good time for our Alliance Spine and Pain Centers team to blog about a type of arthritis many people aren’t familiar with: spinal arthritis.

Your spine is vulnerable to osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis and a unique form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis can also affect the spine.

No matter the type, arthritis alone causes spine pain and limits spinal mobility. Arthritis is also a top cause of spinal stenosis. Here’s what you need to know about both conditions and how to prevent them.

How spinal arthritis is linked to stenosis

Each vertebra has two joints (facet joints) connecting it to the adjacent vertebra. The bones forming each joint are covered with cartilage and surrounded by the synovium, which produces a lubricating and nourishing fluid. Ligaments stabilize the facet joints.

Why are these structures important? Because they’re damaged by arthritis. Arthritis wears away the cartilage, causes synovial inflammation, thickens ligaments, and leads to bone spurs. All these changes contribute to spinal stenosis.

Spinal stenosis

Spinal stenosis refers to a narrowing of the spinal openings. These openings create passageways for the spinal cord and nerves traveling in and out of the spine.

An injury, scoliosis, tumor, or slipped vertebra can cause stenosis. However, the passageways most often become narrow when the thickened ligaments and bone spurs caused by arthritis protrude into the opening.

Spinal stenosis pinches the nerves (a condition called radiculopathy), causing ongoing pain along with tingling, burning, and numbness.

5 tips for lowering your risk

Our top five tips have dual benefits: They can help lower your risk for spinal arthritis and stenosis.

1. Get regular exercise

Exercise has a vital role in preventing arthritis and stenosis. It strengthens the muscles and ligaments supporting your spinal joints. Movement keeps the spinal joints flexible and helps reduce inflammation.

Regular movement also stimulates synovial fluid production and forces the fluid to flow through the joint. As a result, the cartilage receives nourishment, and the joint has optimal protection.

Remember that you don’t need intense exercise to gain these benefits. In fact, it’s essential to focus on gentle but effective activities like walking, swimming, and cycling if you already have some arthritic degeneration.

2. Maintain a healthy weight

Excess weight places tremendous stress on your spine, especially in the lower back where you’re most likely to have arthritis and stenosis. It also affects your posture. (See the next tip about posture.)

Being overweight alone can cause osteoarthritis. After it develops, the additional weight accelerates cartilage and joint degeneration.

Fat cells also release substances that fuel joint inflammation and damage the cartilage. The more you weigh, the higher your levels of these harmful substances.

Limiting your calories and getting regular exercise will always be the backbone of losing weight and staying at a healthy weight. But consult your healthcare provider if you’re still struggling to lose weight after sticking with a diet and exercise plan. You may have hormonal imbalances or other issues sabotaging your efforts.

3. Practice good posture

Good posture keeps your spine properly aligned, which decreases the strain on the spinal joints, ligaments, and muscles. Maintaining good posture also distributes the stress of body weight and spinal movement, ensuring all the vertebrae carry their share of the load.

By comparison, poor posture causes spinal misalignment, forcing some vertebrae to carry more of the stress than others. The extra stress leads to cartilage damage, inflammation, arthritis, and ultimately, stenosis.

4. Take breaks from sitting

When you sit, your lower spine bears double or triple the pressure compared to standing. The load on your spine increases even if you sit properly (with good posture and ergonomics). 

Slouching or leaning forward while sitting increases the stress. Either way, the extra pressure damages the joints and discs.

While good posture is important, one of the best ways to reduce your risk of spine problems is to stand up, stretch, and take a brief walk once or twice every hour.

5. Stop smoking

Any nicotine-containing product (which includes most vaping products) significantly increases the risk of many serious health conditions, from cancer and heart disease to spinal conditions.

Smoking dramatically increases your risk of spinal stenosis, arthritis, inflammation, and disc degeneration. The sooner you stop, the faster your body can heal, helping you to avoid chronic disease.

If you need help with back pain or want to learn more about how to prevent spinal arthritis, call Alliance Spine and Pain Centers today or book a consultation online.