Spinal Stenosis is caused from a narrowing of the spinal canal or lateral recesses which impinges upon the exiting nerve roots. What causes changes in these openings? A lot of things!
One major cause, is the the process of aging. As joints and ligaments undergo wear and tear, they can shift partially into these spaces. In fact, spinal stenosis is most common in people in their 50’s and beyond.
Spinal stenosis can also be inherited or acquired at birth. In rare cases, synovial cysts, which develop as a result of degeneration in the facet joint in the lumbar spine, have been linked to spinal stenosis, or at least mimic many of the symptoms of spinal stenosis.
Symptoms of Spinal Stenosis include:
- Burning, tingling, or shooting pain in the buttocks or extremities
- Diminished pain in the extremities when bending forward or sitting (which relieves the pressure on the nerve by temporarily opening the vertebral space).
- Numbness
- Weakness
- Arm Pain
- Heavy feeling in the legs
At Camarillo Functional Health, Dr. Michael Veselak has been treating cases of spinal stenosis in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks & Westlake Village, CA for over 40 years. As a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner and Board Certified in Integrative Medicine, Dr. Michael Veselak manages spinal stenosis using a Functional Medicine Perspective. Throughout his experience, Dr. Veselak has found that successful treatment is the result of finding the source of the problem, and not masking the symptoms with heavy medications. In many cases, patients have come to our office seeking an alternative to invasive surgery. With the use of state-of-the-art therapies, such as Cervical Traction, Lumbar Traction and Spinal Decompression, along with his advanced medical knowledge, Dr. Michael Veselak has been able to help many of our spinal stenosis patients in Westlake Village & Thousand Oaks, CA to avoid surgery, reduce their pain medications, and return to the activities they once enjoyed.