Spinal Stenosis Treatment in New Jersey

Spinal stenosis has a way of sneaking up on you. It usually doesn’t announce itself with a sudden injury. Instead, over months or years, walking becomes harder. Your legs feel heavy or tired after shorter and shorter distances. You stop at the store to rest, bend forward over the shopping cart to relieve the pressure, and gradually stop doing activities you used to do without thinking.

This pattern, leg pain or weakness that builds with walking and improves when you sit or bend forward, is the hallmark of lumbar spinal stenosis. And despite how limiting it can be, most patients find significant relief without surgery.

Dr. Todd Koppel has been treating spinal stenosis in New Jersey for nearly 30 years, using epidural steroid injections, the MILD procedure, and radiofrequency ablation to restore function and reduce pain.

What Is Spinal Stenosis?

Stenosis means narrowing. In the spine, it refers to the narrowing of the spinal canal, the central channel containing the spinal cord and nerve roots. When this channel narrows, it compresses the nerves traveling through it.

Stenosis develops gradually from several age-related changes:

• Disc degeneration that causes the disc to bulge inward
• Bone spur formation from arthritis
• Thickening of the ligamentum flavum, which is the ligament running along the back of the spinal canal
• Facet joint enlargement

All of these reduce the space available for the nerves. When the nerves are compressed, they produce painful symptoms.

Types of Spinal Stenosis

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Lumbar stenosis causes neurogenic claudication, leg pain, heaviness, cramping, or weakness that builds with walking and is relieved by sitting or bending forward. The lower back is the most common site. Many patients describe their legs giving out on them.

Cervical Spinal Stenosis

Less common but potentially more serious, cervical stenosis can compress the spinal cord itself, not just nerve roots. Symptoms include neck pain, arm symptoms, and, in more advanced cases, changes in balance or fine motor control. Cervical stenosis requires careful evaluation.

Neck pain

Treating Spinal Stenosis in New Jersey

Epidural Steroid Injections

Highly effective for managing the nerve inflammation that drives stenosis symptoms. By reducing swelling around compressed nerve roots, injections can significantly improve walking distance and reduce leg pain. Many patients benefit from periodic injections to maintain their relief.

Epidural Steroid Injections

Lumbar Injection Therapy

Targeted injections at the most affected nerve levels deliver anti-inflammatory medication with precision.

Lumbar injection therapy

MILD Procedure

The Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD) procedure is specifically designed for stenosis patients whose symptoms are caused by thickening of the ligamentum flavum. Using a needle-sized instrument, excess ligament tissue is removed from the spinal canal, creating more space for the compressed nerves. Performed in the office with minimal recovery time. Many patients see meaningful improvement in how far they can walk.

Radiofrequency Ablation

When facet joint arthritis is a major component of the pain, RFA interrupts the pain signals from those joints for lasting relief.

Radiofrequency Ablation