Three years ago, I was serving on a full-time mission in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

One particular day while visiting a family, I felt numbness in my legs and my muscles
contracted. I could not move. Initially, my partner and I thought that the reason was the
cold but as the days passed, the problem worsened because I started to fell a lot of pain in
others parts of my body .

When we went to the doctor, they did not find a valid reason for the numbness of my legs.
they did exams and initially they thought it was stress because at the beginning the pain
appeared in my neck as a pain due to tension and because like missionaries we walk a lot
and that cause some inflammation in the muscles, so they decided to send me to therapy
with the psychologist. I went for a month to therapy but it doesn’t function . The pain did
not stop, on the contrary, it worsened. The psychologist told me that I was emotionally well,
so I referred to a traumatologist.
The traumatologist examined me and he sent me to have a magnetic resonance . It was a
little expensive but it was necessary. He was surprised that my problem was stenosis of
the spinal canal because it is not common in young people. The doctor thought that I had
had a car accident because I had dislocations in a vertebra.

Stenosis of the spinal canal is the narrowing of the spaces within the spine that can put
pressure on the nerves that extend down the spine. Stenosis of the spinal canal occurs
most frequently in the lower back and neck. Some people with spinal stenosis may not
have symptoms. Others may suffer pain, tingling, numbness and muscle weakness.
Usually the people does not give importance and the symptoms may get worse over time.
The most frequent cause of spinal stenosis are changes due to wear on the spine related
to osteoarthritis. In severe cases of spinal stenosis, doctors may recommend surgery to
create additional space for the spinal cord or nerves. In my condition ,the doctor gave me
three possible solutions :Medications to help relieve back pain, a type of psychotherapy,
called cognitive behavioral therapy to help me with better understand your pain and teach
you how to manage back pain and, physical therapy that included go to a chiropractor but
If the pain does not respond to these treatments and I lose movement or sensitivity, I may
need surgery because I will lose the movement on my legs

With that information I started the search of information to can take the best decision.

Resources:
https://www.aaos.org/Default.aspx?ssopc=1
Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary