Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
A podcast about practices to promote healthy lives featuring experts, businesses, and clients: we gather to share our stories about success, failure, exploration, and so much more. Our subscription episodes feature some personal and vulnerable, real-life stories that are sensitive to some of the general public.
Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
From Pain to Possibility: Non-Surgical Spine Care That Works with Dr Brigitte Rozenberg
Back pain doesn’t have to mean a lifetime of injections, “minimally invasive” procedures, and the creeping risk of a second or third surgery. We sit down with Dr. Brigitte Rozenberg, founder and clinical director of Spinatomy Centers, to explore a precise, tech-forward path for herniated discs, sciatica, and degenerative disc disease that helps patients heal without the knife. Drawing from 30+ years of clinical experience, Dr. Rozenberg breaks down a three-phase framework—repair, restore, rebuild—that blends advanced non-surgical spinal decompression, laser therapy, electroanalgesia, softwave stimulation, and strength rebuilding to calm nerves, reduce inflammation, and stabilize the spine for the long term.
What sets this approach apart is the sequence and the specificity. Every plan begins with accurate diagnosis and MRI-informed programming so decompression targets the exact level causing pain. From there, high-tech modalities work in concert: decompression to relieve pressure on the nerve root, photobiomodulation and electroanalgesia to accelerate tissue repair and dial down pain signaling, and regenerative softwave inputs to spark local healing. Finally, focused strengthening addresses muscle atrophy and core stability so patients don’t slide back into the same patterns that created the problem. It’s a system that respects the sensitive anatomy of the spine while giving the body a real chance to heal.
We also talk about a growing shift in patient mindset since COVID—more curiosity, more second opinions, and a greater appetite for safest-first care. Surgery still has a place for red flags and severe deficits, but for many patients, a measured, non-surgical pathway offers better odds and fewer tradeoffs. Dr. Rozenberg shares how Spinatomy standardized this protocol across multiple Los Angeles–area locations and why she’s focused on helping other clinicians adopt it nationwide. If you’re weighing options for disc pain or exploring alternatives to repeat procedures, this conversation offers a clear map to make informed choices and reclaim daily life.
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Well, hello, and welcome back to the Healthy Living Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Grumbine, and today we have a very special guest. Her name's Dr. Bridget Rosenberg, and she's the founder and clinical director of spinotomy, chiropractic, spine, and disc centers. And um, you know, she's got a lot of credentials, um, one of the most innovative models in non-surgical spinal care. She's got over 30 years of clinical experience, and uh she's built these centers into multi-location practice. And you know what? Uh, instead of focusing on a lot of details, Bridget, welcome to the show. I'm really grateful that you're here and uh glad to have you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for having me. I'm I'm very excited to be on your show. Um, share uh all the knowledge, share the options. Um, you know, in my career, after so many years of practicing, you get to the point where it's like, okay, so what's next and what do you do and why do you do what you do? And um, I felt I feel like you know, the more people know about it, the better they'll be. And then absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm kind of excited to hear about your story. You know, there are so many reasons people get into the healthcare field, and you know, chiropractic has been around for a long, long time. And uh what brought you to it?
SPEAKER_01:You know, my mother was a physician, so I always was drawn to be becoming a doctor. That was my passion. I I really, really enjoy that. And I I, you know, someone told me a mentor once told me that you don't choose the career, the career chooses you. I stumble upon chiropractic. I really enjoyed the philosophy, I really liked the patient interaction. Um, I I really had chiropractic care myself. You know, I felt like that would be a perfect fit for me because I always I wanted to be a mom and start a family, and I knew that just going through the regular medical, you know, school would require me to really spend a lot of hours in the in the ER and in in the hospital. And I really said, like, you know what, that sounds like something. First of all, I love the treatment, I feel like it's very beneficial. Um, and I can really interact with the patient. Uh, it just I don't know, it drew me. It I was very much drawn to that. And like I said, I guess it chose me because I feel like after all these years of practicing, now I have a bigger message and a bigger mission and a purpose.
SPEAKER_00:So I love it. So just for our listeners, you know, I always I don't like to assume everybody knows everything, you know, and I like to sort of break down um chiropractic has got a lot of um information. Um that's sort of there's a lot of bad information out there and good information. So you hear a lot of uh a lot of people's experiences about chiropractic. Why don't you just explain what that what that actually is?
SPEAKER_01:So chiropractic is a you know, it's a profession, it's it's a it's a medical, it falls under the medical realm, right? But it's a healing science that basically concentrates on treating the patient with, you know, with a focus on musculoskeletal system, the spine, the nerves, the discs, the extremities, and all of that. But just like in anything under any health care realm, any healthcare realm, you can do many different things. There are chiropractors that are very just regular family practice. They treat the kids and adults, and they treat all these different, you know, um age group. And then the you have those chiropractors that are very specific to sports injuries, and you have those chiropractors that are very specific to just car accidents and work-related and trauma-related injuries. You have others that are very focused on nutrition. So, you know, our body, you know, now more than before, there is a lot more awareness of health, wellness, longevity, all these different things that we can do. The world is changing. And chiropractic, you know, if you if you take it for what it is, it actually works on the muscular skeletal system. So, you know, I, even though I've done it for so many years and throughout my career, you know, I've I've seen it all, you know, and I've been around doctors say, Oh, you guys are not the real doctors, and I've been around that said, Oh my God, I love chiropractic, it changed my life. It's it's about education, sure. It's about knowledge. I always told patients when they started to talk to me about um in those, you know, manners. I said, Look, you don't go to the dermatologist when you have a heart problem. When you talk about a heart problem, you go to the cardiologist. When you have a, you know, a bone issue, a broken bone, or you need some surgery because you had a ski accident, you go to the orthopedic surgeon. You don't go to the cardiologist for a bone. You know what I'm saying? So you need to understand, and I explained that to the patients, that you need to know who you need to go for which problem, for what problem. You can't go to one person that's gonna save everything. So if you have headaches, neck pain, back pain, unresolved, you know, different muscular skeletal conditions, and you don't get better with the medication because back then, you know, it wasn't like it is now. A lot, I get a lot more awareness. You don't get better with injection, then maybe you should try something else.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And you know, and common sense goes a long way, right?
SPEAKER_01:Well, as we know, common sense is sometimes not very common.
SPEAKER_00:Not at all.
SPEAKER_01:You know, but what I like is I I'm very straightforward and I'm common sensical in my explanation. I said, I don't fix everything, I fix very specific conditions that are related to my work and my specialty. So if you have headaches, if you have back pain, if you've been involved in injuries and nothing else worked for you, chiropractic can really save your life. But if you have diabetes and you have this and you have that, I personally don't have I I'm not that's not my area of expertise, even though there are doctors of there are chiropractors that they do, you know, specialize in functional medicine and things like that. I said, but I can't fix this. But if you have you know back pain, I can fix this.
SPEAKER_00:And if you You're not gonna pull out an impacted wisdom tooth.
SPEAKER_01:No. And so over the years, as any other foot field of medicine, things evolve, things become better, things become a lot more knowledgeable. I mean, the the general public become public became a lot more knowledgeable. I feel that there was a huge shift and a huge complete 180. Everything in healthcare changed tremendously for the general public after COVID.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:The the the general public, I'm not talking about those health freaks or the ones that are into biohacking, which I'm not, I'm not opposed or I think all of it is incredible and it has so much space. But let's assume the average patient doesn't know what it means, it doesn't know what it is, doesn't know what it's doing for him.
SPEAKER_00:It's trying to live a life.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. I believe that every patient or every person that either had COVID, was exposed to someone that had COVID, um, you know, lived in the world we all lived in during the pandemic, uh, experienced something with this that they didn't experience before. So whether the symptoms after this condition, after this virus affected them long term, whether the symptoms of the vaccination affected them long term, whichever part of that journey they somehow you were touched. Sorry?
SPEAKER_00:I said somehow you were touched.
SPEAKER_01:Somewhere, exactly. And if you were touched by anything and every whatever that is, you have a different view of the outcome of this virus or this situation that occurred in the world. And you are developing maybe an opinion that before that you didn't have because you trusted one system. And I have a lot of patients that had COVID, and I had a lot of patients that had the vaccine, and I am not here to to to um advocate against or pro, that's not the platform for that. But I'm just you know, I'm I I'm just gonna share with you the information that I experience that I have so many people that specifically in my space, because they have pain, they developed so much infl inflammation, so many symptoms that they've never had before, that whether they can connect it or somehow, you know, think that it's related in one way or another. What I'm trying to say is that this time in our history and life changed everything that, or changed a lot of the way we view healthcare and what are the options that are available for us. And I think that the general public is understanding that okay, there are more options for me. And I'm not just gonna go with what they tell me. How about I do a little bit more research and find out what else I can do or what else is available for me to fix and treat X, Y, and Z conditions.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's fantastic. I'm always telling our listeners to step up and be your own advocate because there are so many answers. You know, people get stuck into the healthcare system and they go to their primary doctor and they tell them what to do, and they just sort of follow along. Maybe not realizing that for every solution that's presented to them, maybe there's two others that wasn't. And, you know, it's up, it's up to each individual to do some research and and see what's out there and and you know, figure out which which route you want to go on. Now, as you were developing your practice initially, this is obviously a long time before COVID. Um, did you have a specific focus or did you just open your doors as to the general public?
SPEAKER_01:You know, I always my specific focus, because I'm coming from a medical background, was always treating injury. So I my focus was always trauma-related injuries. So whether it's slip and falls, car accident, work-related injury, sports, a little bit of everything as it relates to injury versus just regular wellness. This was my focus. I always was intrigued about how do I solve the problem and get the patient back to their normal life. And, you know, of course, over the 30 years, there's so many developments, so many new technologies, so many new things out there that are available to patients. Um, and and kind of that that that's the route I took 30 years ago throughout my career. And of course, now with spinatomy, that's uh uh the route I'm taking currently.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. So, do you deal mostly with acute treatment or more like uh rehab sort of post-uh post-care treatment?
SPEAKER_01:So the very unique thing that I do here in spinatomy, and I created and developed spinatomy about six years ago. Um, I specialize in treating patients for with advanced disc condition like herniated bulging disc, sciatica, pinch nerve, degenerative disc disease, all these different spinal conditions that require that are very debilitating, disabling, require invasive procedures, surgeries, injections, drugs, all of that. And so I came up and created a treatment plan. I did not invent the technologies, but I really created and invented a protocol and trademarked the protocol called advanced spinal restoration treatment that allows patients to get better and to heal themselves from all these debilitating, painful conditions without invasive procedures, using technology in a very systemized pattern, very specific formulated plan, specific cadence, and the results are amazing. And so that's my message and my purpose is to really educate as many people as possible of the opportunities and of the choices that are available for them. So when they make a decision, they make an educated decision.
SPEAKER_00:That's exciting. As I get older in life, you know, you run into more and more people that have more and more problems with their backs. And um my experience has been it's about 50-50 for the people that have had these invasive procedures, whether it's surgeries or whatever, the injections, all different things they do for discs, disc problems, and whether it's a bulging disc or a herniated disc, or a there's so many problems that can happen with these discs. And uh to hear that there's you know some viable solutions that don't require, you know, there's people that get crippled after a surgery, and then they get another surgery and another surgery, and it turns into this, you know, painful nightmare that never seems to get better. And then they get into drugs because of the pain and they end up in a you know fairly miserable life that wasn't better than when they started.
SPEAKER_01:You nailed it. This is exactly the sequence of events that I see and hear every day in my practice. They start with one little non-invasive or minimally invasive surgery that works for a little bit of time, and then one or two years later, or five or six months, depending on their own situation and condition, they need a second surgery. Um, and it's also minimally invasive, and then they have pain from that, and then they need to have multiple epidurals, and then they're looking into surgery number three, and it's like this never-ending vicious cycle of all these different things, and meanwhile, they're in so much pain, and they're like, I wish I would never even do it to begin with.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, there are times that surgery is necessary and it will save your life, but there are a lot. I just spoke to a patient before I jumped on this podcast who told me that he has back problem. He had um a minimally invasive dysquectomy in his neck, and he had four epidurals in his low back, and he really does not want to have another surgery on the low back. Um, and he said it's interestingly enough that now that I'm starting to research, and then I came across some orthopedic and neurosurgeon that are telling and they're talking about online that don't do surgery unless you really have to, because the results are not always favorable. It's a very 50-50 chance, and you can develop a condition called failed back surgery syndrome.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:There are a lot of you know, um, awareness out there now in regards to what works, what doesn't work, um, and how to fix it. And you know, there are solutions for patients with debilitating conditions that they can get better without going under the knife, for sure.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. So I I know a little bit about chiropractors. I've I've been to a chiropractor a few times in the in my life, and it seems that it's a pretty um wide-ranging spectrum of treatments that chiropractors offer, and it it ranges from simple adjustments and some fairly um, I don't know, I would say primitive sort of tools all the way to, like you were saying, real high-tech. Um, and I have no idea even where the technology has come to this day. It's probably been 15 years since I've been to a chiropractor, but why don't you tell us a little bit about some of your tools of the trade?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I use a lot of technology in my practice, and I'll I'll mention some of them. The main thing that I do in my advanced spinal restoration, I mean, adjustments is always part of everything, but you cannot fix everything with adjustments. And there are some patients that it's not even the right thing for them because it's not even gonna work uh on them. So one of the biggest things that I do is I use the most advanced non-surgical spinal decompression system, which is it's a it's the most advanced in the in the world. And and uh actually it's made here in the United States. It's all FDA cleared to treat a disc and a herniated disc and a pinched nerve. And basically it's a computer-generated technology that allows, you know, when you when I place a patient on that particular table, it's a table with a computer attached to it and a tower, and it basically stretches and decompresses that disc that I program into the computer based on their MRI. So I have to have an MRI to diagnose the patient properly. I don't, I don't just in my practices, and I have three locations, I don't just stick someone on a table. That's not the way to do it. You gotta really understand what the problem is and understand, you know, um how to treat it. So I put them on a decompression table and it takes the pressure off the nerve. And when you relieve the pressure off the nerve from a herneed disc, the patient feels much better and have great relief. Now, on top of that, when you have a pinched nerve, you develop a lot of inflammation and pain. So then we use additional, you know, tools such as laser therapy, we use um electroanalgesia, which is a pain management device. Um, it's not like a tens unit, it's all extremely high-tech. It reduces, blocks the basically the pain signals from reaching the brain, and it stimulates uh tissue recovery on a cellular level. We use softwave therapy, which is a stem cell stimulation. Um, we use a lot of, you know, we use a new device that just recently been FDA cleared. Again, I'm using those terms because these are not just machines that someone developed in their garage and even in the office. These are very high-tech uh modalities that have uh very specific um clearances by the FDA to be treated for a specific thing. Uh, we use a machine called Mscope Neo, which actually helps patients with muscle atrophy and weakness. It builds muscle tone. So the treatment that I created and designed um follows very specific three protocols. We call it repair, restore, and rebuild. So, first of all, we need to repair the problem, then we need to restore back the function, make sure that your body can, you know, function, and then we need to rebuild you back so you can go back to a normal lifestyle. And the concept is that our body has the ability to heal itself if we provide it and give it a right environment. To do that, you really need to give it a right environment, and these modalities are every single one of them is providing a different portion of this environment in order to reach the full healing effect. That can get rid of this pain without surgery.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, that's impressive. So, I mean, it sounds to me like you're a pioneer in the field. Um you know, I I I'm not knee deep into the field, so I'm not, you know, up on the latest who's all doing what, but I haven't heard of this sort of approach. Um and I I deal with a lot of people, a lot of different modalities, a lot of different practitioners that come through this podcast, and even just in my community that I'm working with, um, you know, I'm hearing some things I haven't heard before. So do you consider yourself a pioneer in the field?
SPEAKER_01:I am a pioneer in the field. Um I really feel that sometimes it it it has it's it's a good thing, and and it's sometimes a difficult thing because it's a good thing to be the pioneer in trailblazing something, but it's a little bit more challenging sometimes because people just don't understand and know. And they think that, oh, let me ask my doctor what he thinks about that. And many oftentimes the doctors don't even know.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01:They know what they know, and they don't know anything more than that.
SPEAKER_00:I I couldn't agree more. I think that's that's sort of the, you know, I'm I'm uh on the finishing edge of of defeating a really aggressive cancer, and I've had to become a pioneer in my own field of solving my problem because oncology is, you know, 20 years behind the available treatments, and I've had to navigate through a lot of alternative things. And most of the time I bring a potential solution to a doctor and they say, I don't know anything about that. And you know, they don't necessarily have a negative opinion about it, they just don't know, and it's not part of their standard of care they've been trained to work with. And uh I've been working with a number of pioneers, a lot of doctors that are willing to kind of push the limits. And, you know, science gets advanced by these types of people and people willing to, you know, push the ticket a little bit and and all of that. But a lot of times there's pushback. And you know, the industry sometimes doesn't like the change or isn't sure of it, or you know, the old the old guard doesn't necessarily like the new kid coming up going, oh, maybe we're gonna do this thing. Do you have any sort of experience where you've gotten pushback on it all?
SPEAKER_01:You know, I had a lot, of course, we all do when we use things that are outside of the mainstream and kind of like thinking outside of the box. Um, you know, in big platforms and small platforms, we see it all the time. Right. But you know, yes, of course. Well, I mean, I had exactly the same as you described. I had a patient that went to their doctor, and the doctor said, Well, I don't know anything about that. I would not go on this machine, I don't know much about this. Well, I'm like, well, but I would do an epidural or I would do this. And I'm like, then I say to the patient, I'm like, Well, what I'm explaining to you, I'm not convincing anybody to do anything because at the end of the day, it's your choice and you're gonna make your own decisions. I am showing you and I am explaining to you what can be done if you do it that way versus this way, and if you still need to do surgery, you know, you can always do that. But you know, you turn from surgery, right? Because I said, and I always say that surgeons are very well trained and they know what they're doing, and they are and and they're there to save your life um all the time. I'm gonna say that, I'm not gonna say most of the time, but all the time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, that's our job.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. But you're dealing with a very sensitive anatomy, right? Spinal cord, the spine, and the bones, and the discs, nerve, and the nerves. It's a very sensitive anatomy. You do not know how your body will react to the successful surgery, right? You know, you just don't know. So you can always do it, but why don't you want to try something that's less invasive if it makes sense to you? My job is to educate you and to make sense out of it. Your job is to say, you know what, that makes sense. I want to try this or that does not, and I'm not gonna try it. And it's like in everything else you do the food you eat, you know, the way you live your lifestyle, it it all falls under the same kind of umbrella. It has to make sense.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I think you're bringing up a really important point. I think as a patient and a patient advocate is looking at a treatment, you know, when you go to the healthcare system, often their first solution is a very aggressive, potentially invasive and potentially negative outcome. You know, they're they they they put the risk into the factor of it all. And as a human being who's trying to make sure that I'm getting best the best I can, it makes sense to approach it in an incremental way. You say, well, what's the least dangerous thing I could do that might help me? And and I look at you know, the safety versus possible outcome, and I start with the most safe, and maybe there's not the highest possible outcome, but it's the most safe. So, you know, if it doesn't work, well, you can always go to a little less safe thing. And and it doesn't seem that um, you know, the the healthcare system has that sort of approach, whereas some of the more holistic modalities seem to bring that again common sense into it. Let's start with the the least harmful thing and and work our way out, you know, to a more risky thing if you need to. And I really like that about you know your approach and and and some of these. I know we're getting a little light on time, but I really like to hear a well, a couple of questions. Number one, your practice is growing, and um obviously this is a region, you know, a lot of modalities they do this, you know, virtual work and all this, but this is a hands-on situation that you're dealing with. So tell us about where the areas that you do serve.
SPEAKER_01:So I am in the uh in the Los Angeles area. I have three locations. I have one in the Van Ice area, which is the San Fernando Valley, one in Culver City, which is near the beach, near Venice Beach, near Marina del Rey. Um, and then I have one in Ontario, which is more the inland empire. Uh so those are my three locations. And um, we have uh all the centers are equipped with the same technology in all of them, and we serve the population the same, it's the same treatment plan. All the doctors are trained. Uh, I traveled between the locations. We have uh a whole team of nationally trained staff that again, this is not someone that can turn on and off a machine. Uh it's just very specific. So that's where I am. The name of uh the practice is called Spinatomy Centers. Uh, and you can find us on spinatomycenters.com. We have a website with a lot of information. Uh, we have a lot of information on many different platforms, videos on YouTube, Facebook, all that stuff. So you can see how it's working and how it's done. And um, yeah, that that's you know, I have a I have a mission and I have a purpose like in that in that in this stage of my career, like to really give people another choice and another hope. And if if I can, you know, I can't make, I can't change the world, but if I can give people another option to have a better life, then I feel like I've done my my share of um you know helping.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. Well, this has really been an eye-opening conversation. Um, actually, your Ontario um practice is only less than an hour from me. I I I'm out here in the inland empire myself, so um I will definitely let people know about you. Um, this has been fascinating, Bridget. Um, I'm I'm very pleased to have really gotten a chance to look through your eyes. And um, I I really like I see you seem really inspired, and I really look forward actually to hearing um about the future of this. Where do you see yourself in five years? You know, how how do you see this to expand and grow?
SPEAKER_01:That's a great question. But uh honestly, um, I would love to um take spinatomy nationwide and internationally. I think that this is so um, there are such a big need in the market and and the population for patients. Back pain is the number one cause uh of people missing time off work. It's the number one cause of disability in the United States and it's a multi-billion dollar industry. Um, but it's because people just don't know what the other options are. So I would love to be everywhere and help other physicians and other doctors implement the same system that I have. I can't open offices everywhere. It's a lot. I'm just one person. But I am um on a mission to really help a lot of other doctors that want to implement the same disciplines and the same practices in their in their uh facilities and grow this nationwide. That's where I see myself.
SPEAKER_00:Do you attend um conferences and symposiums as a presenter?
SPEAKER_01:I do, but I need to attend more now. So if you have anything to you know suggest, then I'll be open for suggestions. Yes, I do, of course.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. I love it. Well, hopefully, um, you know, we'll be able to continue this conversation. We have so many things we could still talk about. Um, it's really been an honor to spend some time with you. Dr. Bridget Rosenberg, I really want to thank you for joining us on the show today.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, Joe, for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Well, this has been another episode of the Healthy Living Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Grumba. I want to thank all the listeners who've made this possible, and we will see you next week.
