Let’s work toward the places you want to go. We assess walking-related back and leg symptoms and build movement, strength and activity around what helps.
Share your goals and questions before deciding on care. We’ll reply by phone or text to arrange a time.
One-on-one with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT
McKenzie certified · No referral needed
In-person PT at our Holladay clinic, serving Greater Salt Lake City. Virtual coaching from anywhere.
Understanding lumbar spinal stenosis
Spinal stenosis means narrowing in spaces where the spinal cord or nerve roots travel. Narrowing can occur centrally or around the openings where nerves leave the spine.
With lumbar stenosis, some people develop aching, heaviness or other leg symptoms during standing and walking that ease with sitting or leaning forward. Other conditions can cause walking-related leg symptoms too; a symptom pattern is not a diagnosis by itself.
DPT, Cert. MDT
Your story comes first with Dr. Emily
Emily’s early work in neurological rehabilitation shaped her interest in movement, pain and what people want to get back to.
Emily asks how long you can stand or walk, what changes the symptoms and what route or outing you miss. Position, movement and strength findings help guide practice. You can track a useful walking task rather than judge progress only by how your back feels on the table.
Meet Emily and explore her approach · Request a Free Case Review to discuss how to stand and walk more comfortably.
Hear Dr. Emily explain pain and imaging
Dr. Emily’s overflowing-cup analogy explains why a scan is one part of pain. Watch her explanation, or read the key points below.
Key points from the video
- Dr. Emily uses an overflowing-cup analogy to explain how several factors can contribute to pain.
- Imaging findings, activity, sleep, stress and sensitivity can all be part of the picture.
- The message is that you may have options for improving pain and activity without having to change every scan finding.
What you take away from your first stenosis appointment
Your first 60-minute visit is one-on-one with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT. Bring your scan report if you have one, previous exercises and an example of the walk or standing task you want to make easier.
- Understand your pattern. We connect your symptoms and health history with movement, strength, sensation and balance findings.
- Find a manageable starting point. We compare a relevant task, such as walking or standing, and explore which positions, rest breaks or movement adjustments help.
- Practice your plan. You leave knowing what to try, how much to start with, what to notice afterward and when we will review progress.
Build walking capacity around the places you want to go
Where would you like a more comfortable walk to take you? Emily wants to hear about the store, time with a friend or family outing you are missing. Tell her when leg symptoms begin, what helps them settle and how long it takes to feel ready to move again. We use that knowledge alongside your examination to choose a manageable starting point and build toward that destination.
Back and leg care — Google review: Kim P.
“She quickly identified my back and leg issues within just a few appointments, leading to immediate improvements in my condition.”
Choose a manageable starting point
- Walking intervals: a shorter section of a route with planned rests can make practice more manageable than repeatedly walking until symptoms become severe.
- Another way to build endurance: a stationary bicycle or another supported activity may suit your symptom response, balance and health.
- Strength and balance: practice tasks such as standing from a chair, managing a step or carrying what you need with appropriate support.
Does McKenzie treatment mean back extensions?
No. We use movement-response assessment to choose a suitable strategy. Some people with stenosis find sitting or supported forward leaning more comfortable; we do not force a direction because it appears in a generic back-exercise video.
There is encouraging research for improving walking with stenosis. In a trial of 104 people with lumbar stenosis and neurogenic claudication, 82% in a six-week comprehensive nonsurgical program achieved at least a 30% walking-distance improvement at six months, compared with 63% in self-directed care. This was a structured stenosis program, not a McKenzie trial. A review of non-operative care also supports combining exercise and manual therapy, with or without education.
How can I measure whether a walking plan is helping?
Choose a familiar, manageable route or standing task that matters to you. It might be reaching a nearby bench, getting around the grocery store or standing to prepare part of a meal. Follow any medical activity limits and use the walking support you need. You do not have to provoke severe symptoms to make a useful record.
Copy this walking record and bring it to your assessment:
- My destination: the route or task I want to manage, including hills, stairs, surfaces or carrying demands.
- My starting amount: the time or distance I can currently manage before symptoms begin to limit me.
- My stops: where I rest, how many breaks I need and which permitted position helps.
- My recovery: how symptoms settle during the break and how I feel later that day.
- My useful change: what would make this outing more manageable—such as reaching the next bench or finishing a necessary errand.
- My review question: what is improving, what remains difficult and what I want to ask at the next appointment.
Emily can use your observations alongside movement, strength, sensation and balance findings. You practice a starting plan together and review the same useful task over time. More distance is one possible change; fewer interruptions or easier recovery can matter too. New or increasing weakness needs medical assessment rather than another walking test.
Recognize progress and know when to review
Progress may be reaching the same destination with fewer stops, recovering more comfortably after a break or being able to spend longer on your feet. We track that alongside strength, sensation and balance and gradually change the demand around your response.
Improving useful activity does not depend on making the narrowing disappear on a scan. If walking capacity keeps declining or neurological findings change, we reassess and explain when medical or surgical input is needed. Our exercise guide for older adults offers related questions to bring to your visit.
When to discuss other treatment options
If you are hoping to walk farther without an operation, we can help you explore a structured nonsurgical plan. We also agree on when to reassess, so you are not left repeating a routine while everyday life becomes more limited. Persistent difficulty walking or standing, new weakness or changing neurological findings deserve a fresh discussion with your medical team.
A trial comparing surgery with a PT program included people who moved from PT to surgery during follow-up. That is a useful reminder to plan reassessment rather than treat the first decision as final. Ask your treating team which changes would support continuing rehabilitation and which would prompt another surgical discussion. Read the comparison trial.
Ask: What is the treatment meant to improve? What changes would tell us rehabilitation is helping? What would make another opinion worthwhile? Our surgery decision guide can help you prepare.
What should I ask before spinal stenosis surgery?
Bring the activity you most want back into the surgical conversation. Your questions can connect the proposed operation with the walking or standing difficulty you actually experience:
- Which symptoms is the operation intended to improve, and how do my examination and scan support that goal?
- What could continue to limit my walking afterward, and does it need a separate assessment?
- What would a useful remaining trial of nonsurgical care involve in my situation?
- Which changes mean I should seek review sooner, and when should we compare progress?
A surgical opinion and appropriate rehabilitation can be parts of the same plan. Tell Emily what has been proposed and bring any activity instructions. She can assess your current function and help you practice permitted movement while the medical team addresses the surgical decision. If your daily function keeps declining, revisit that decision rather than continuing an unchanged routine indefinitely.
Our back-surgery decision guide can help you prepare. A Free Case Review is a conversation about care and fit; your individual 60-minute PT assessment is the later examination. You do not need to complete a PT course before seeking medical advice about worsening symptoms.
Can I have a virtual appointment?
Virtual coaching from anywhere includes direct video calls with a PT, an exercise program with video demonstrations and messaging between visits. We can help you understand your activity plan and review how practice is going.
Clinical PT availability depends on your location and needs. Hands-on testing, significant balance concerns or neurological changes may call for in-person or medical assessment. Our Holladay clinic serves Greater Salt Lake City; we can discuss the appropriate format before you book.
When not to wait for PT
New difficulty passing urine, loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness around the groin or saddle area, or rapidly worsening weakness need emergency medical care. Read the back-pain warning-sign guide; do not use an online appointment request for emergency care.
Have you already had surgery for spinal stenosis?
Let us know whether you had a laminectomy, laminotomy or another decompression, and whether it included a spinal fusion. Your surgical instructions guide the rehabilitation plan. We can connect permitted activity with goals such as walking around home, using stairs and returning to a familiar route. See PT after lumbar decompression and bring your restrictions to the first conversation.
Questions about walking and living with spinal stenosis
Why do my legs hurt when I walk but feel better when I sit?
Standing and walking can bring on leg aching, heaviness or tingling with lumbar stenosis; sitting or leaning forward may ease it. Clinicians call this pattern neurogenic claudication. Other conditions can also limit walking, so we check the whole picture. We use your symptoms and examination to choose manageable walking intervals, another endurance activity or strength work. Read the clinical guideline on nonsurgical care for this walking-related symptom pattern.
Can I walk farther even if my MRI still shows narrowing?
Yes, walking ability can improve even though exercise does not remove the narrowing. The walking research above is encouraging. We focus on what you can use in daily life: a comfortable starting amount, strength and balance, and a plan you know how to practice. Compare the same route or task over time, including how symptoms settle afterward.
Should I walk or use a stationary bike?
Choose a starting activity you can manage. Some people tolerate cycling better because the seated position is more comfortable. If that fits your symptoms and health, it can help you build endurance while we also practice shorter walking intervals for the places you want to go. We consider your balance, how you get on and off the bike and what happens to symptoms. There is no need to force a long walk just to prove you can do it.
What if my walking distance keeps getting shorter?
Tell us rather than simply reducing your activity again. Record when symptoms begin, where you feel them, what helps them settle and whether strength or balance has changed. We review the exercise amount, movement response and examination. New or increasing weakness needs prompt medical assessment; a continuing decline in function may warrant another medical or surgical opinion. The urgent warning signs above need emergency care.
Is treatment the same for stenosis in the neck?
No. This page focuses on lumbar stenosis in the lower back. Narrowing in the neck needs its own assessment. New hand clumsiness, worsening balance or changes in walking can be signs of spinal cord involvement and need prompt medical evaluation. Our cervical spondylosis guide explains neck-related changes; tell your medical clinician about new or worsening symptoms.
Start with the places you want to go
You may want to walk with a friend, get around the store or stand through a family conversation more comfortably. In your Free Case Review, we’ll listen to what is getting in the way and explain how care with Dr. Emily could fit.
Send a request and we’ll contact you by phone or text to arrange a time. This conversation is separate from your first 60-minute PT assessment.
You can also call or text (385) 332-4939.