Is this bad?

Hi all. I am having symptoms of neurogenic claudication along with low back pain. My last MRI showed 9mm central canal stenosis at L3-L4, and L4-L5 along with facet hypertrophy at L4-L5 and bulging discs all around the cord at L3-S1. The doctors have not been too concerned about this and there does not appear to be any radiculopathy per EMG/NCS. With that said I have severe cramping with walking and standing in my right hip and leg and its preventing me from living my life. I've done LOTS of PT for generalized back pain/fibromyalgia without success and just had an epidural at L3-L4 that does not seem to have helped. I really don't want to have back surgery, espically since I am facing potential surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, but they are sending me to a spine surgeon after 2.5 years of this

My other question is...how much does weight impact this if the damage has already been done? I am obese and have been my entire life due to a metabolic condition that makes it very difficult to lose weight. Hopefully I will be getting zepbound soon that will help, but I'm unsure if this will help with my back or the dynamic compression that occurs when walking.

Posted Mar 1, 2026, 1:37 AM UTC

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