The holes can get tight or narrow due to conditions like arthritis, inflammation, or prolonged bad posture.
Pinching (compression) of the nervescauses diminished sensation, tingling, pain, or weakness.
Some treatments can include physical therapy, oral anti-inflammatory medication, injections into the spinal area, or surgery.
Illustration by Julie Bang for Verywell Health
The vertebral column comprises individual vertebral bones with spinal discs between each bone.
Your spinal cord goes through a canal in your spine.
Your spine runs from the base of the skull down to your tailbone.
Its sections are called the cervical spine, the thoracic spine, and the lumbar spine.
Cervical Foraminal Stenosis
Yourcervical (neck) spineis the upper area of the spine.
Thoracic Foraminal Stenosis
Yourthoracic spineis the area of the backbone in your mid-back.
Thoracic spinal foraminal stenosis is not as common as foraminal narrowing of the cervical spine or lower back.
Symptoms can involve pain or tingling in the mid-back.
Symptoms occur along the path of the affected nerve.
Each spinal nerve starts at the spinal cord and has a specific path down one side of the body.
You and your healthcare provider can discuss treatment options.
Nonsurgical Treatments
Your personalized treatment plan can involve medication, exercises, injections, or surgery.
Anti-inflammatory medications can reduce inflammation thats narrowing the spinal foramen.
Medication can help reduce your pain or other unpleasant sensations.
The symptoms are often manageable with medication and physical therapy.
In addition to providing relief of your existing symptoms, treatment can help prevent your condition from getting worse.
If your pain or weakness is disabling, you might need a walker to get around.
Early treatment also gives you a better chance of preventing the worsening of your condition.
This condition can range in severity, often improving with medication, exercise, and lifestyle adjustments.
Sometimes a surgical procedure may relieve pressure on the nerve.
doi:10.7759/cureus.28809
Johns Hopkins Medical.Lumbar spinal stenosis.
2025;17(4):595. doi:10.3390/cancers17040595
