Cervical spinal stenosis. trying to understand the difference between mild and more concerning symptoms. a few examples of each would be helpful. thanks?

Mild spinal stenosis will often produce no symptoms. More mild symptoms could simply be neck pain. More severe symptoms would be numbness in the arm or hand with weakness in the hands/arms as well. Severe stenosis can also cause myelopathy over time which can result in an unsteady gait, loss of dexterity/coordination of the hands, and even bowel/bladder incontinence.

More concerning symptoms would be weakness or debilitating pain radiating down the arms. Mild symptoms would be pain which can be controlled with over the counter analgesics.