What are spinal tumors?
Spinal tumors are growths that show up in your spinal canal or inside the bones of the spine (the vertebrae). Spinal tumors can be cancerous, but they’re not always.
Cancerous spinal tumors usually develop due to metastatic cancer — cancer that’s spread from another part of your body.
Benign tumors are most often seen in young adults. Most commonly, Dr. Glickman sees vertebral hemangioma, a slow-growing tumor that rarely causes pain.
What symptoms do spinal tumors cause?
Continuous pain in your middle or lower back that can’t be blamed on stress, physical activity, or an injury could indicate that you have a spinal tumor. This pain will probably be most noticeable when you’re active and when you first lie down to rest.
Pain from a spinal tumor can radiate beyond the back to the feet, legs, arms, or hips. If you undergo conventional treatments, like massage or physical therapy, that usually ease back pain, your pain will instead get worse if it’s caused by a tumor.
Additional symptoms that indicate a spinal tumor include:
- Numbness or weakness in the legs, arms, or chest
- Stiffness in the neck or back
- Difficulty walking
- Reduced sensitivity to pain, heat, and cold
- Loss of bowel or bladder function
You might also notice an increase in pain and tingling when you breathe out vigorously through your mouth while holding your nose tightly closed. This is called the Valsalva maneuver.
How are spinal tumors treated?
The majority of spinal tumors are due to advanced-stage cancer. In these cases, Dr. Glickman works with your other specialists to control crippling pain. He might also do surgery to remove pressure on the nerves and spinal cord and prevent the collapse of the spine by stabilizing it with spinal fusion.
If you have cancer but your tumors aren’t responding to radiation or chemotherapy, you might be eligible for spinal tumor surgery. Your exact treatment will depend on your prognosis.
For patients with a benign spinal tumor, Dr. Glickman could start with a wait-and-see approach to treatment. He won’t rush in with surgery and will, instead, monitor the tumor with regular MRIs. If the benign tumor is especially large or is pressing on nerves and causing health issues, he might recommend surgery to avoid further disruption to your quality of life.
Call the Center for Neurosurgery Las Vegas today to learn more about managing and treating spinal tumors. You can also use the online tool to schedule your consultation.
