Common Questions
Learn More About Your Body
Neck, Back & Spine
Your spine is remarkably adaptable. It supports you through work, movement, rest, stress, injuries, and the countless demands of everyday life. Pain often brings people into the office, but it rarely tells the whole story. These are some of the most common questions I hear about neck and back pain, along with the conversations we have every day in practice.
Why Does My Neck Pain Keep Coming Back?
One of the most common things I hear is, "It felt better for a while...and then it came back." That can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you've already tried stretching, massage, a new pillow, or even chiropractic care. It's easy to wonder if your body is simply becoming "high maintenance." In most cases, it isn't. Recurring neck pain is often less about one bad movement and more about patterns that have developed over time. Your body is remarkably adaptable. It finds ways to keep you moving through long workdays, stressful seasons, old injuries, and everyday stress. Those adaptations are helpful...until they aren't. Sometimes the neck simply becomes the place that's working the hardest.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that the neck isn't always where the story begins. Sometimes it's responding to a stiff upper back, changes in breathing, or the way the body has learned to move after an old injury. That's why I'm interested in more than where it hurts. I want to understand why your body has been asking the neck to do so much. Rather than thinking of recurring pain as something your body is doing to you, I invite people to become curious about what it might be doing for them. Pain gets our attention, but it isn't always the beginning of the story.
If your neck pain keeps returning, it's worth asking not just, "How do I get rid of this?" but, "What has my body been adapting to?" That question often changes everything.
Neck, Back & Spine
Your spine is constantly adapting to the way you move, work, rest, and respond to life's demands. While pain often brings people into the office, it rarely tells the whole story. These questions explore why spinal discomfort develops, why it sometimes keeps returning, and how chiropractic care and functional medicine can support healthier movement and function.
Why Does My Low Back Keep Going Out?
One of the most common things people tell me is, "I was just bending over to pick something up...and my back went out." While it may feel like that simple movement caused the problem, it's often just the moment your body reached its limit. Our low back is designed to be strong and adaptable. Every day it helps us lift, bend, twist, carry, and absorb the demands of life. When another part of the body isn't moving well, or when we've been asking the same muscles and joints to do the same job day after day, the low back often steps in to help. It can do that for quite a while before it finally asks for our attention.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that recurring low back pain rarely begins with one awkward movement. More often, it's the result of many small adaptations that have quietly accumulated over time. Stress, old injuries, repetitive routines, long hours sitting, changes in activity...they all become part of the story. I don't see recurring back pain as a sign that your body is failing. I see it as a sign that your body has been working incredibly hard to keep you moving.
If your back keeps "going out," it may be worth asking a different question. Instead of wondering what movement caused the pain, become curious about what your body has been adapting to long before that moment arrived.
Why Do I Wake Up With Back Pain?
If your back hurts most when you first get out of bed, you're not alone. Many people tell me they wake up feeling stiff, achy, or like they need a hot shower just to get moving. It's easy to blame your mattress or assume you slept in a bad position. While those things can certainly contribute, they're rarely the whole story.
Our bodies are designed to move. During the day, we're constantly shifting, reaching, walking, and changing positions. At night, everything becomes much quieter. If your body has been compensating or carrying extra tension, those patterns often become more noticeable after several hours of stillness. One thing I've noticed in practice is that morning back pain usually has less to do with what happened overnight and more to do with what's been happening throughout the day. Long hours sitting, repetitive movements, stress, old injuries, or simply the way your body has learned to move can all influence how you feel when you wake up.
Rather than asking, "What did I do wrong while I was sleeping?" I invite people to ask, "What has my body been adapting to lately?" Sometimes our mornings don't create the pattern...they simply make it easier to notice.
Can Chiropractic Help Sciatica?
The short answer is...it can. Sciatica is one of the most common reasons people seek chiropractic care, but it's also one of the most misunderstood. Sciatica isn't actually a diagnosis. It's a term used to describe irritation of the sciatic nerve, which can cause pain, tingling, numbness, or burning that travels from the lower back or hip into the leg. What many people don't realize is that two people with sciatica can have very different stories. One person's symptoms may have started after lifting something heavy. Another's may have developed gradually over months. Some people hurt most when they sit, while others notice it when they walk or stand.
That's why I'm less interested in the label and more interested in understanding why your body is producing those symptoms. How is your spine moving? What patterns has your body developed? What seems to aggravate it, and what brings relief? Chiropractic care may help improve the way your spine and surrounding joints move, reduce mechanical stress, and support healthier movement patterns. For many people, that leads to less pain and greater confidence returning to everyday activities. But every body is different, and that's why your care should never be based on a diagnosis alone.
Rather than asking, "How do I get rid of my sciatica?" I encourage people to become curious about what their body may be trying to protect. Sometimes the place you feel the pain isn't where the story begins.
Why Does My Mid-Back Feel So Tight?
"I always feel like I need someone to crack my back." I hear that all the time. Whether it's between your shoulder blades, around your ribs, or across the middle of your back, that persistent feeling of tightness can be frustrating. You stretch, twist, roll on a foam roller, maybe even get a little relief...and then it comes right back.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that tight muscles aren't always the problem. Quite often, they're doing exactly what they believe they need to do. Your mid-back helps connect your neck, shoulders, ribs, and lower back. If one of those areas isn't moving well, or if your body has been under more physical or emotional stress than usual, the muscles in your mid-back often step in to provide extra support. They work harder so you can keep doing what you need to do.
That's why simply trying to "release" the tightness doesn't always create lasting change. If the reason those muscles are working so hard hasn't changed, they'll often tighten right back up.
Rather than asking, "How do I get these muscles to relax?" I encourage people to ask, "What have these muscles been helping me carry?" Sometimes tightness isn't your body working against you, but rather your body's way of holding everything together until it finds a better option.
Why Does My Body Feel Crooked or Uneven?
"I feel like one side of my body is doing all the work." People describe it in different ways. One shoulder feels higher. One hip feels "off." They always lean to one side, or they simply don't feel balanced anymore. The interesting thing is that our bodies aren't perfectly symmetrical to begin with. We all have a dominant side, habits we've repeated for years, old injuries, and preferred ways of standing, sitting, and moving. Most of the time, our bodies adapt beautifully without us ever noticing.
Sometimes, though, those adaptations become so familiar that they begin to feel uncomfortable. When someone tells me they feel crooked, I'm actually less interested in whether one shoulder is a little higher than the other. I'm much more curious about how their body is moving. Is one side working harder? Is another area avoiding movement? Has the body quietly organized itself around an old injury, a repetitive habit, or a pattern that's no longer serving it? I don't believe your body is striving for perfect symmetry. I believe it's always looking for the most efficient way to keep you moving.
Sometimes the feeling of being uneven isn't a sign that something is "out of place." It's simply your body's way of letting you know it's been relying on the same strategy for a very long time. Instead of asking, "How do I straighten my body?" I invite people to ask, "Why has my body organized itself this way?" That question almost always leads to a more meaningful conversation.
Why Does Sitting Make My Pain Worse?
One of the biggest myths I hear is that there's one "perfect" posture we're all supposed to maintain. The truth is, our bodies were designed to move, not to stay in any one position for hours at a time. Whether you're working at a computer, driving, or relaxing on the couch, sitting itself isn't usually the problem. It's what happens when your body stops changing positions. Muscles stay engaged, joints move less, and the body gradually begins relying on the same patterns over and over again.
People often tell me, "I know my posture is terrible." What I'm usually more interested in is how long they've been sitting, how often they're able to move throughout the day, and whether their body has found itself doing the same thing for hours without a break. I've never been interested in helping someone find the "perfect" posture. I'd much rather help them find more variety.
Our bodies thrive on movement. Small shifts, standing up for a few minutes, taking a short walk, or simply changing positions throughout the day often do more for the body than trying to sit perfectly. If sitting consistently makes your pain worse, I wouldn't immediately assume you're doing something wrong. I'd become curious about what your body has been missing. Sometimes it's not better posture, but simply more opportunities to move.
Why Does One Part of My Body Hurt When the Problem Is Somewhere Else?
One of the questions I hear most often is, "If my shoulder hurts, why are you looking at my neck?" Or, "My pain is in my hip...why are you checking my feet?" It's a great question.
Most of us naturally assume that the place we feel pain is where the problem began. Sometimes that's true. But our bodies don't function as isolated parts. They function as one connected system. When one area isn't moving well, another area often steps in to help. At first, those adaptations are incredibly helpful. They allow you to keep working, exercising, caring for your family, and living your life without giving it much thought. Over time, though, the part doing the extra work may begin asking for attention. That's why the place you feel pain isn't always the place I'm most curious about.
Rather than chasing symptoms from one area to the next, I want to understand how your body has been organizing itself as a whole. Often, the painful area isn't the weakest part of the body. It's simply the part that's been working the hardest. Instead of asking, "Where does it hurt?" I often find it more helpful to ask, "What has your body been trying to protect?" That question tends to open a much bigger conversation than pain alone ever could.
Why Does My Pain Keep Coming Back?
One of the hardest parts about living with pain is when it finally gets better...only to return weeks or months later. People often tell me, "I thought I fixed it." The truth is, feeling better and changing the pattern that created the pain aren't always the same thing.
Our bodies are incredibly adaptable. If they find a way to keep you moving through stress, old injuries, repetitive routines, or the demands of everyday life, they'll often keep using that strategy. The problem is that what once helped can eventually become the very thing that's creating discomfort.
One of the first questions I ask isn't, "How bad does it hurt?" It's, "When does it come back?" After long workdays? During stressful seasons? After traveling? When you've stopped exercising? Those patterns often tell us far more than the pain itself.
I don't believe recurring pain means your body is failing. More often, I see it as your body repeating the same solution because it hasn't yet found a better one. Rather than asking, "How do I get rid of this pain?" I encourage people to ask, "What keeps leading my body back here?" Sometimes the pain isn't the pattern, but rather the clue that helps us discover it.