The truth about narrowing of the spine?

Question

If you have a narrowing of the spinal canal, is it true that you can't play contact sports because it could cause paralysis? What else could happen if you have a narrowing of the spinal canal?

Answer 1

Having either chronic or acquired spinal stenosis puts one at greater risk for acute neurologic injury, so paralysis is a possiblity. Mostly, those with stenosis have a lot of symptoms, like leg pain and weakness, and are unlikely to playing contact sports. It can sometimes interfere with bladder and bowel function and cause leg and neck pain, tingling and numbness. Any areas or functions affected would depend on the location of the stenosis - cervical, thoracic or lumbar.

Answer 2

In certain parts of your spinal canal, the spinal cord is surrounded by just a few millimeters of cerebral spinal fluid. Those are the neck(cervical) and upper back (thoracic) . In the lower back (lumbar) area, the spinal cord has ended, and it is just the individual spinal nerves that float in the sac containing the spinal fluid. If you were born with a congenital small canal, ususally in the cervical spine, there is a danger if you were to fall, hit your head, get tackled in football etc. Just a small amount of movement in this area could lead to putting some pressure on the spinal cord. It does not tolerate this at all, and can cause a severe burning, pins and needles sensation in your arms or legs. It could lead to weakness, or even paralysis. So when a small canal is found, medical folks advise against doing high risks sports or things were a fall could injure the spinal cord. Damage to the cord can lead to a permanent condition, no "do overs" if this is the case.

Answer 3

There is wide range of possible risks from spinal stenosis, depending on the cause of the narrowing, where the narrowing is located in the spine, and how much narrowing has occurred. Doctors don't even agree on how narrow the canal must be to consider it a stenosis. By one definition, about 1/3 of NFL football players have some degree of spinal stenosis.

The most important factor determining the risk of neurological damage from contact sports is the amount of cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the spine. Many professional football players have some degree of spinal stenosis from playing football, and each year a few players in the NFL retire because of numbness or other nerve damage to the spine.

Doctors can use MRI images to see how much cushioning is present and determine the risk to that particular individual.

Answer 4

your disc will eventually dissolve and the greatest pain you will ever know will begin changing your life