You didn’t lift anything heavy. You didn’t fall. You didn’t do anything wrong. So why does your back hurt? It’s one of the most common questions we hear at Erickson Clinic of Chiropractic, and the answer almost always surprises people.
Back Pain Is an Accumulation, Not an Event
Back pain affects roughly 30% of people on any given day, yet most of those people can’t point to a single cause. That’s because back pain is rarely the result of one incident. It’s the result of life, piling up over time. Repeated strain, poor posture, emotional weight, even the way you sleep night after night (yes, your mattress matters) gradually weakens the spine until the pain sets in.
Three Types of Stress, One Struggling Spine
There are three categories of stress that contribute to spinal breakdown: physical, chemical, and emotional. Physical stress is what most people think of first, things like gravity, prolonged sitting, poor posture, and the way you stand at the kitchen counter. Chemical stress includes what we eat, drink, and put into our bodies. Emotional stress, the kind we all carry, is just as real and just as damaging to the spine as a bad fall.
What Subluxation Actually Means
When the spine weakens under that accumulated stress, vertebrae can shift out of alignment. Chiropractic care identifies and corrects these shifts—a misaligned vertebra that puts pressure on the surrounding nerves and tissues is called subluxation. Left unaddressed, it can lead to herniated or bulging discs and contribute to degenerative disc disease over time.
Getting Better Is Just the First Step
When patients are in acute pain, the immediate goal is relief. But getting out of pain is only the beginning. The long-term goal is to restore function, correct alignment, and help you build the kind of spinal health that keeps pain from coming back.
As Winston-Salem chiropractor Dr. Rick Erickson puts it: “Our job isn’t just to fix the problem. It’s to teach you how to stay healthy, keep your spine in good alignment, and prevent this from happening again.”
Ready to Find Real Relief?
At Erickson Clinic of Chiropractic, we’ll help you understand what’s causing your pain, address it thoroughly, and build a plan to keep you well. Let us help you, teach you, and fix the problem fast.