How to Manage Your Spondylolisthesis Pain

Your spine is a complex and remarkable structure. It supports your body while permitting a wide range of motion. It also protects your spinal cord.  

Healthy spine function depends on careful alignment of the vertebrae and their relationships with each other. When one of these bones slips out of position, you develop a condition called spondylolisthesis. 

The team at Coast Neurosurgical Associates regularly diagnoses and treats spondylolisthesis and its symptoms, which include pain, numbness, referred pain in your legs, and stiffness in your back.

As with any pain condition, effective symptom management is a priority. Low-grade spondylolisthesis, the most common form of the condition, can usually be treated with conservative therapies. We recommend surgery only for severe cases with extreme pain and complications.  

Successful pain management requires the combined efforts of the patient and physician. Here’s what you need to know about managing your spondylolisthesis pain. 

Grades of spondylolisthesis

Our neurosurgeons rate the severity of your condition at the time we make our diagnosis. 

Grades I and II are milder forms of spondylolisthesis, usually referred to as low-grade. These are the most common forms and can generally be treated without surgery. 

High-grade spondylolisthesis rates as Grades III and IV. These grades are more likely to need surgery, especially when you have extreme pain that isn’t controlled through more conservative means. 

Spondylolisthesis pain management

Most people with spondylolisthesis can control their symptoms with medical monitoring and self-care strategies. 

Common pain management techniques for spondylolisthesis include: 

• Rest: take a break from sports or other strenuous activities that aggravate your pain
• Medications: over-the-counter pain medications are often enough to reduce pain, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories can reduce swelling 
• Active lifestyle: modest levels of movement like walking, biking, and swimming stimulate blood flow, reduce pain, and maintain flexibility
• Physical therapy: following a daily plan of targeted exercises relieves pain by building soft tissue support
• Corticosteroids: taken orally or through injection, steroids are potent anti-inflammatories that can provide longer-term pain relief
• Braces: when spondylolisthesis causes spinal instability, wearing a back support brace may prove beneficial

Degenerative spondylolisthesis is the most common form. It may worsen as you get older, aggravated by the natural aging of spinal discs between the vertebrae. This can lead to more pain and greater instability in some people. 

Surgical approaches for spondylolisthesis

When pain management treatments aren’t enough to control your condition, we may recommend spinal fusion surgery to add stability to the spine or spinal decompression to relieve nerve irritation like sciatica. 

Contact Coast Neurosurgical Associates at our Long Beach, California, office when you require specialist care for your spondylolisthesis condition. Request a consultation by phone or online today.