Dr. Michael Veselak, D.C., CFMP

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is one of the most complex and undertreated conditions in medicine — and one of the most misunderstood. Millions of patients cycle through medications, injections, and procedures, finding temporary relief at best. Many are told the pain is “in their head,” or that they simply need to learn to live with it.

At Dr. Veselak’s practice in Camarillo, CA, we take a fundamentally different approach. Chronic pain is not a life sentence. It is a signal — and that signal almost always has identifiable, treatable causes.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Pain is considered chronic when it persists beyond three months, or beyond the expected recovery time for an injury or illness. Unlike acute pain — which serves as a warning signal for tissue damage — chronic pain often continues long after any original injury has healed. In many cases, there is no ongoing structural damage at all.

This is the central fact that most pain treatments miss: chronic pain is a nervous system problem, not just a tissue problem.

When pain persists, the nervous system itself changes. The brain’s pain-processing circuits become sensitized. The spinal cord amplifies signals. The body’s natural pain-suppression systems weaken. The result is a nervous system that is stuck in a perpetual alarm state — generating pain independent of whether structural damage is present.

Understanding this is the key to treating chronic pain effectively.

How Common Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain affects an estimated 50 million adults in the United States — roughly 20% of the adult population. It is the leading cause of long-term disability and a primary driver of opioid dependence. Despite being so prevalent, it remains dramatically undertreated by conventional medicine, which continues to focus primarily on symptom management rather than root-cause resolution.

Common Conditions Associated With Chronic Pain

Chronic pain presents in many forms. At Dr. Veselak’s clinic, we regularly work with patients experiencing:

  • Low back pain — including pain from disc herniation, spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc disease
  • Neck pain and cervicogenic headaches — often stemming from cervical dysfunction and postural strain
  • Fibromyalgia — widespread musculoskeletal pain with associated fatigue, sleep disruption, and cognitive symptoms
  • Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) — a neurological pain disorder characterized by disproportionate, burning pain often following injury
  • Neuropathic pain — nerve-based pain from peripheral neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, or diabetic nerve damage
  • Joint and arthritis pain — including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory joint conditions
  • Migraine and chronic headache — often with identifiable neurological and metabolic drivers
  • Post-surgical pain — pain persisting after surgery that conventional follow-up fails to address
  • Autoimmune-related pain — from conditions like lupus, Hashimoto’s, and ankylosing spondylitis

Why Standard Chronic Pain Treatments Often Fail

The conventional approach to chronic pain relies heavily on three tools: medications, injections, and surgery. Each has a role — but none addresses the underlying mechanisms that make pain chronic.

Pain medications (NSAIDs, opioids, nerve agents like gabapentin) reduce pain signals without changing why those signals are being generated. Over time, the nervous system adapts, and higher doses are needed to achieve the same effect. Opioids in particular are associated with a paradoxical increase in pain sensitivity with long-term use — a phenomenon called opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

Steroid injections provide anti-inflammatory relief at a specific location, but most chronic pain involves systemic, neurological, and metabolic components that a localized injection cannot reach. Relief is typically temporary.

Surgery corrects structural problems but does not retrain the nervous system. Patients with central sensitization — the brain’s amplified pain response — often report no improvement after surgery, even when structural corrections are confirmed on imaging. This is among the most common causes of failed back surgery syndrome.

What’s missing from all of these approaches? A genuine investigation into why the pain became chronic in the first place.

Dr. Veselak’s Root-Cause Approach to Chronic Pain

Effective chronic pain treatment requires understanding the full picture — neurological, metabolic, structural, and psychological. Dr. Veselak’s integrative approach combines functional neurology and functional medicine to address each dimension.

Functional Neurology: Retraining the Pain System

The nervous system learns pain. Through a process called neuroplasticity, repeated pain signaling physically changes the brain — creating sensitized circuits that generate pain with less and less provocation over time.

Functional neurology uses this same principle in reverse: targeted, non-invasive neurological rehabilitation can desensitize the pain system, restore normal signal processing, and rebuild the brain’s capacity to suppress pain naturally.

Assessment includes evaluation of eye movements, balance, proprioception, cerebellar function, and reflex integrity — all of which reflect the neurological state of the pain-processing system. Therapies are customized based on where deficits are found.

Functional Medicine: Finding the Metabolic Drivers

Chronic pain does not exist in a metabolic vacuum. Inflammatory cytokines, nutritional deficiencies, gut dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, and toxin exposures all directly affect nerve irritability, tissue healing, and the brain’s pain-modulation capacity.

Functional medicine assessment identifies:

  • Inflammatory markers and root causes of systemic inflammation
  • Nutritional deficiencies (vitamin D, magnesium, B vitamins, omega-3s) that impair nerve function and healing
  • Gut microbiome disruption and intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”), which drives neuroinflammation
  • Hormonal dysregulation (thyroid, cortisol, sex hormones) that affects pain thresholds and tissue repair
  • Genetic variants (MTHFR, COMT) affecting pain sensitivity and neurotransmitter balance
  • Mitochondrial dysfunction that impairs cellular energy and tissue recovery

Addressing these metabolic drivers doesn’t just reduce inflammation — it changes the biochemical environment in which the nervous system operates. When that environment supports healing rather than perpetuating damage, the nervous system can stop generating protective pain signals.

Structural Assessment and Chiropractic Care

While chronic pain is rarely purely structural, structural contributions — altered spinal mechanics, joint dysfunction, postural imbalances — can perpetuate pain by providing ongoing nociceptive (pain-signal) input to the central nervous system. Chiropractic care restores joint motion, reduces mechanical stress, and improves the quality of proprioceptive input to the brain.

Targeted Rehabilitative Exercise

Graded, progressive exercise is one of the most evidence-supported interventions for chronic pain. It reduces central sensitization, builds tissue resilience, normalizes proprioception, and activates endogenous (internal) pain-suppression pathways. The key is proper pacing — pushing too hard reinforces the pain cycle; appropriate loading drives neurological adaptation. Dr. Veselak has also had great success with the use of non-surgical lumbar and cervical decompression for the chronic lower back and neck pain patient.

Nutritional and Lifestyle Optimization

An anti-inflammatory diet, adequate sleep, stress management, and targeted supplementation create the physiological conditions in which the nervous system can heal. These are not optional additions — they are foundational to any durable chronic pain resolution.

The Role of Central Sensitization in Chronic Pain

Central sensitization is the neurological mechanism underlying most cases of chronic pain. It occurs when the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord — becomes amplified in its response to pain signals. The volume on pain gets turned up, and the threshold for triggering pain gets turned down.

Signs of central sensitization include:

  • Pain that is disproportionate to the degree of injury or structural findings
  • Pain that has spread beyond the original injury site
  • Sensitivity to light touch, temperature, or sounds that are normally not painful
  • Pain that worsens with stress and improves with rest and relaxation
  • A history of multiple pain conditions over time (fibromyalgia, migraines, IBS)

Central sensitization is measurable, treatable, and reversible — but not with medications or surgery alone. It requires targeted neurological rehabilitation combined with metabolic support.

Who Is a Good Candidate for This Approach?

This integrated approach is particularly well-suited for patients who:

  • Have had chronic pain for months or years without finding lasting relief
  • Have tried multiple medications, injections, or procedures with limited or temporary results
  • Experience widespread pain that doesn’t fit a single structural explanation
  • Want to understand why they have pain, not just manage symptoms
  • Are motivated to make the lifestyle changes that support genuine healing
  • Want a drug-free or reduced-medication approach

What Patients Are Saying

“I had been in pain for four years and been to six different doctors. Dr. Veselak was the first one who actually explained why I was still hurting. Within three months of treatment, I was off all my pain medications.”

“After two back surgeries that didn’t work, I was ready to give up. The combination of functional neurology and the dietary changes made a difference I didn’t think was possible.”

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to see results?
This depends on the chronicity and complexity of the case. Some patients notice meaningful improvement within 4–6 weeks; others with longer-standing central sensitization require 3–6 months of consistent treatment. Most patients see objective neurological and lab marker improvements before they notice full symptomatic relief.

Do I need to stop my current medications?
Not necessarily — and never without coordinating with your prescribing physician. The goal is to address root causes so that over time, medications can be reduced or eliminated. We work alongside your medical team, not against it.

What if my imaging looks normal?
Normal imaging in the setting of chronic pain is common and does not mean “nothing is wrong.” It usually means the problem is neurological and/or metabolic — which is exactly what our evaluation is designed to find.

Do you accept insurance?
Please contact our office for current insurance and payment information.

Is this approach safe?
Yes. Functional neurology and functional medicine are non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical approaches. All interventions are tailored to your specific physiology and current health status.

Take the First Step Toward Real Relief

Chronic pain does not have to be permanent. The nervous system is changeable, inflammation is treatable, and the metabolic drivers of pain are identifiable. What chronic pain requires is a practitioner willing to look for them.

Dr. Veselak has helped patients throughout Camarillo, Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and the greater Los Angeles area find lasting relief from conditions that had resisted every other approach. If you’re ready to understand what’s actually driving your pain — and do something about it — we’re here to help.

Call our office or request a consultation online today.

Explore Our Chronic Pain Articles

Our in-depth articles break down the neuroscience, root causes, and treatment strategies behind persistent pain:

Related Articles