The cause for this lies in our spine. Our spinal canal contains bundles of nerves which travel from the back into our legs. These nerves are responsible for strength and sensations in our legs. As we get older, wear and tear leads to degeneration of the ligaments and joints in our back. This decreases the space for the nerves and the nerves start getting compressed. This compression is more while standing and walking and thus the person with advanced degeneration has a lot of back pain, leg pain and leg numbness while walking. This is called lumbar canal stenosis. Hence our elderly have more difficulty in walking.

How do we avoid this problem?