Dr. Michael Veselak, D.C., CFMP

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis affects millions of Americans — and for many, the standard advice of “rest, pain pills, or surgery” simply isn’t enough. If you’re living with chronic back pain, leg cramping when you walk, or that all-too-familiar “shopping cart” posture just to get relief, you deserve a deeper answer than a diagnosis and a prescription.

At Camarillo Functional Health, Dr. Michael Veselak takes a fundamentally different approach. By integrating functional neurology, functional medicine, and advanced physical therapies, we address not just the mechanical narrowing of the spine — but why your nervous system is amplifying pain signals, why inflammation persists, and what your body needs to genuinely heal.

What Is Spinal Stenosis?

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within the spine that puts pressure on the spinal cord and the nerves that travel through it. The spine has several openings — the central spinal canal, which houses the spinal cord, and smaller foraminal openings where nerve roots exit on each side. When any of these spaces narrow, the resulting pressure on nerves produces a wide range of symptoms that can dramatically affect your quality of life.

There are two primary types:

  • Lumbar spinal stenosis (lower back) — the most common form, affecting the nerves that control the legs, hips, and bladder.
  • Cervical spinal stenosis (neck) — more serious because it involves the spinal cord itself, and can affect function from the neck down.

Spinal stenosis is typically progressive, meaning it tends to worsen over time if the underlying drivers — inflammation, structural stress, postural dysfunction, and nervous system sensitization — are not addressed at their root.

Common Symptoms of Spinal Stenosis

Symptoms vary depending on the location and severity of the narrowing, but the most frequently reported include:

  • Lower back pain or stiffness that worsens with prolonged standing or walking
  • Neurogenic claudication — cramping, heaviness, or weakness in the legs that forces you to stop and rest (or lean forward)
  • Pain, tingling, or numbness radiating into the legs (often mistaken for sciatica)
  • Weakness in the legs or feet, including foot drop in advanced cases
  • Balance problems and increased fall risk
  • The “shopping cart sign” — relief when leaning forward on a cart or walker, because it temporarily opens the spinal canal
  • Bladder or bowel urgency in more severe cases
  • Neck pain, arm weakness, or hand clumsiness in cervical stenosis

One hallmark of spinal stenosis is that symptoms worsen with extension (standing upright, walking downhill) and improve with flexion (sitting, leaning forward). This positional pattern is a key clinical clue.

What Causes Spinal Stenosis?

While age-related degeneration is the most common contributing factor, spinal stenosis rarely has a single cause. The structures that narrow the canal include:

  • Degenerative disc disease — discs lose height and bulge inward, reducing canal space
  • Bone spurs (osteophytes) — the body’s attempt to stabilize an unstable joint, but which protrude into nerve pathways
  • Thickening of the ligamentum flavum — the ligament along the back of the spine stiffens and buckles inward
  • Facet joint arthritis — enlarged, inflamed facet joints compress nerve roots
  • Spondylolisthesis — one vertebra slipping forward over another, further compressing the canal
  • Herniated discs — disc material pressing directly on nerve tissue

Critically, the degree of narrowing seen on MRI does not always correlate with the degree of pain. We frequently see patients with significant stenosis on imaging who have mild symptoms — and patients with moderate narrowing who are severely disabled. This is because pain is also driven by inflammation, nervous system sensitization, and overall systemic health — all areas where functional medicine makes a profound difference.

Why Standard Treatments Often Fall Short

Conventional treatment for spinal stenosis typically follows a predictable path: anti-inflammatory medications, epidural steroid injections, physical therapy, and — if symptoms progress — surgery (laminectomy or spinal fusion).

These approaches are not without value. But they share a critical limitation: they treat the structural symptom (narrowing) without addressing the biological and neurological conditions that drive the pain experience and inflammation. Epidural steroids, for example, can provide temporary relief but do not halt the degenerative process. Surgery carries significant risks, and a meaningful percentage of patients continue to experience pain post-operatively — a phenomenon so common it has a name: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome.

For many patients, there is a better path — one that combines structural support with functional medicine and neurology to address the whole picture.

Dr. Veselak’s Integrative Approach to Spinal Stenosis

At Camarillo Functional Health, we treat spinal stenosis as a multi-system problem requiring a multi-system solution. No single therapy works in isolation. Our approach brings together several powerful modalities, each targeting a different layer of the problem:

Spinal Decompression Therapy

Non-surgical spinal decompression uses gentle, computer-controlled traction to create negative pressure within the disc space — drawing bulging disc material back toward center, improving circulation to damaged discs, and reducing direct nerve compression. Unlike traditional traction, modern decompression therapy is precise and programmable, targeting specific spinal levels with controlled force.

Functional Neurology

Functional neurology examines how different regions of the brain and nervous system are firing — and where there is imbalance, weakness, or over-excitation. In chronic spinal stenosis, the nervous system frequently becomes sensitized, amplifying pain signals far beyond what the structural lesion alone would produce. Through specific neurological rehabilitation exercises, we retrain the brain and spinal cord to process input more accurately, reduce central sensitization, and restore normal movement patterns and coordination.

Functional Medicine

Inflammation is not just a local tissue response — it is a systemic condition driven by diet, gut health, genetics, hormones, and immune function. Using comprehensive functional lab testing, Dr. Veselak identifies the underlying drivers of chronic inflammation that worsen spinal stenosis pain and impede healing. Personalized nutritional protocols, targeted supplementation, and lifestyle modifications can dramatically reduce the inflammatory burden on spinal tissues — allowing the body’s natural repair processes to work.

Manual Therapy & Chiropractic Care

Targeted joint mobilization and chiropractic adjustments address facet joint dysfunction, improve segmental mobility, and reduce the muscular guarding patterns that develop around a painful spine. We use gentle, low-force techniques appropriate for patients with significant stenosis, avoiding high-velocity manipulation in compromised segments.

Therapeutic Exercise & Neuromuscular Re-Education

Weakness in the core, hip flexors, and paraspinal muscles accelerates the mechanical stress on stenotic segments. Our exercise programs build the deep stabilizer strength that protects the spine during daily activity — while neuromuscular re-education helps restore normal movement patterns that patients with chronic pain often lose.

Low-Level Light Therapy (Photobiomodulation)

Low-level laser therapy delivers specific wavelengths of light deep into tissue, stimulating mitochondrial energy production, reducing inflammation, and accelerating tissue repair. It is particularly useful for addressing the chronic inflammation around compressed nerve roots and degenerating disc tissue.

Who Is a Good Candidate for This Approach?

Our integrative approach to spinal stenosis is particularly effective for patients who:

  • Have been told surgery is their only option but want to explore alternatives first
  • Have had surgery but continue to experience pain
  • Experience significant pain despite medication or injections
  • Have other systemic health issues (metabolic syndrome, autoimmune conditions, gut issues) that may be driving inflammation
  • Want to understand the root cause of their pain, not just manage symptoms

We work with patients from Camarillo, Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and throughout Ventura County who are seeking a more thorough, personalized approach to spinal stenosis care.

Patient Testimonials

Hearing from real patients matters. Here is one patient’s experience with our approach to spinal stenosis and chronic spine pain:

“Dr. Michael Veselak and his spinal decompression clinic have changed my life in a way I never would have thought possible. Now, five weeks after I started my treatment, I’m back to my very active lifestyle. During my entire treatment, I’ve been completely medication free. I couldn’t have done it without Dr. Veselak. I would highly recommend this treatment to anyone faced with surgery as their only option or people that have chronic neck and/or back pain.”
— Umrao M

Frequently Asked Questions About Spinal Stenosis

Can spinal stenosis be treated without surgery?

Yes — many patients achieve significant and lasting relief through conservative and integrative care, particularly when treatment addresses both the structural and systemic factors driving pain. Surgery is sometimes necessary for severe cases involving neurological compromise, but it is far from the only option for most patients.

Is spinal stenosis the same as a herniated disc?

No, though they often coexist. A herniated disc refers to disc material bulging or rupturing outward. Spinal stenosis refers to the narrowing of the spinal canal or foraminal openings from any cause — which may include disc herniations, but also bone spurs, ligament thickening, and arthritis.

What does neurogenic claudication feel like?

Neurogenic claudication produces cramping, heaviness, burning, or weakness in the legs that typically comes on after walking a certain distance and is relieved by sitting or leaning forward. It is caused by compression of the nerve roots supplying the legs, not by reduced blood flow (as in vascular claudication).

How long does treatment take?

This varies considerably based on the severity of stenosis, the presence of other health conditions, and how long symptoms have been present. Most patients begin to notice meaningful improvement within 4–8 weeks of a consistent treatment program. We develop individualized care plans based on your specific imaging, history, and functional assessment.

Does spinal stenosis always get worse over time?

Not necessarily. While the structural narrowing tends to be progressive without intervention, the pain experience is heavily influenced by inflammation, nervous system function, and overall health — all of which can be meaningfully improved. Many patients stabilize or significantly improve their symptoms with appropriate care.

Will I need an MRI before starting treatment?

Recent imaging is helpful for understanding the location and severity of narrowing and for ruling out conditions requiring urgent medical attention. If you don’t have recent imaging, we can help coordinate that before beginning care.

Take the Next Step

If spinal stenosis is limiting your life — your ability to walk, work, sleep, or simply enjoy the day — we want to help you find real answers. Dr. Veselak and the team at Camarillo Functional Health bring together the most effective non-surgical tools available and apply them with precision to your unique situation.

Contact us today to schedule a comprehensive evaluation. We serve patients throughout Camarillo, Ventura County, and the greater Los Angeles area who are ready to stop managing pain and start resolving it.

Explore Our Spinal Stenosis Articles

Want to go deeper on a specific aspect of spinal stenosis? Our in-depth articles cover every angle — from understanding your diagnosis to exploring non-surgical treatment options:

Related Articles