Usually starts off as a gradual onset back pain with associated leg pain.some people may have no back pain altogether and just leg pain. The pain is one of standing and walking and relieved on sitting and lying down. This happens because the spinal canal open a bit on sitting and opens a bit on lying down because there is less pressure in the back. People hence tend to bend forward to open their canals when standing .hence do not try and correct them because that is the position they feel better in.

»  What is facetal arthritis?

The facet joints are the joints between the two vertebrae .due to wear and tear they start rubbing and cause pain. They however cause only local back pain on standing and walking and not pain down the leg.here too people tend to bend over on walking

»  What is the treatment?

Usually physiotherapy helps.
Warning:- do the exercises under supervision because you may aggravate the pain
Along with exercises a belt and medications are given

»  When is surgery required?

• When pain and disability affect the patients quality of life.
• When walking gets restricted to moving form one room to another.

The amount  person can walk gives us an idea about how severe the nerves are compressed. That is a person with more severe nerve compression will walk less than another person who has less nerve compression. Nerves do not usually get weak because a person stops walking when he has pain. This causes intermittent compression prevents permanent damage in most cases.

»  What does surgery involve?

Depending on the no of areas involved the surgery done is called laminectomy. This involves deroofing of the spinal canal to allow more space for the nerves. If there is associate spondylolisthesis(bone slipping on the other) then an associated spinal stabilization may also be needed. This is like saying if your house needs to get bigger you break the walls. If your house is weak and small you need to strengthen the walls before breaking the walls.

»  How long is hospitalization

Depending on the surgery

• Simple laminectomy one level: 4 days
• Multilevel laminectomies: 4-6 days
• With spinal stabilization: 7-8 days

You usually need a rigid belt for stabilization and a simple ready made belt after laminectmies, b oth are needed for 3 months after surgery .