When Your Pain Plays Musical Chairs (And What Your Nervous System Has to Do With It)
If you’ve ever felt like your body is playing “tag, you’re it” with your pain, you’re in the right place.
One week it’s your neck.
Then your low back joins the party.
Next it’s your hip or shoulder… and you’re thinking,
“Seriously? I didn’t even do anything this time.”
I hear this story in the office all the time, and I’ve had my own versions of it too.
It can make you feel a little burned out and a little crazy:
“Why does something always hurt?”
“And why does it keep moving around?”
Let’s break down what’s actually going on—without making it scary or complicated.
It’s Not Always “Something New Is Wrong”
Here’s the big thing I want you to know:
A lot of the time, moving pain doesn’t mean your body is breaking down or that you’ve developed a brand-new injury every week.
Most of the time, it means your nervous system is trying to keep you going and is shifting tension around to do it.
Your body is smart. It doesn’t wake up in the morning planning to sabotage you. Its entire job is to protect you, stabilize you, and keep you upright and functional… even when life is asking a lot.
When your system senses:
too much stress
too much load
not enough recovery
…it starts to compensate.
What Compensation Looks Like in Real Life
Compensation is your body’s version of,
“Okay, this area is tired. Let’s spread the work somewhere else so we can still move.”
That can show up as:
🖤 Tightness that seems to migrate
Yesterday it was between your shoulder blades, now it’s your low back, and tomorrow your hip joins in.
🖤 Old aches flaring up during busy seasons
Kids’ sports, work deadlines, holidays, caregiving—suddenly that “old injury” you haven’t thought about in months is loud again.
🖤 Random discomfort with no clear injury
You didn’t fall, twist, or lift something huge… but something hurts anyway.
🖤 One area feeling better while another suddenly feels cranky
You finally get some relief in your neck, and then your low back starts complaining. You fix your hip, and your shoulder starts talking.
Is it annoying? Absolutely.
Is it your body failing you? No.
Most of the time, it’s your body saying,
“I’m doing the best I can with the load I’m under… but I’m running out of good options.”
A Simple Look at What’s Going On Inside
Let’s talk “technical” for a second, but in plain English.
Your nervous system is the boss.
It’s constantly taking in information from your joints, muscles, ligaments, your stress level, your emotions, your sleep, your gut… all of it.
When your nervous system decides:
“We’re overwhelmed,” or
“Something isn’t stable,”
it will recruit other muscles and joints to help.
So if one area is stiff, tired, or not moving well (say, your mid-back), another area may pick up the slack (like your low back or neck). If your hips are stuck, your low back or knees may start working overtime. If your core is exhausted, your back muscles may decide they need to brace all day long.
That extra work often feels like:
tightness
fatigue
burning
aching
or that dull, nagging “there you are again” discomfort
Pain that moves is often your nervous system tap-dancing around a bigger picture, doing its best to protect you without shutting you down completely.
Why Just “Chasing the Pain” Doesn’t Work
This is why it can feel so frustrating if you only ever chase the loudest area:
You work on your shoulder → now your neck hurts.
You work on your low back → now your hip is tight.
You stretch one spot → another starts complaining.
If we only focus on the sore muscle of the week and ignore how your nervous system and whole body are organizing movement, you’ll keep playing pain whack-a-mole.
That’s exhausting.
You deserve better than that.
How Chiropractic & Massage Fit In (This Is the Good Part)
This is where nervous-system-focused chiropractic care and massage work well together.
We’re not just asking, “Where does it hurt today?”
We’re also asking, “Why is your body choosing to use this area like this? What’s it trying to help or protect?”
Chiropractic: Helping the System Reorganize
With chiropractic, I’m looking at:
how your spine and pelvis are moving (or not moving)
which joints are stuck and which ones are overworking
how your nervous system is responding to stress and load
Gentle adjustments help:
improve motion in the spine and joints
reduce irritation around the nerves
give your nervous system clearer, calmer input
When the brain and body can communicate better, your system doesn’t have to lean so hard on compensation patterns. It can start to organize movement more efficiently instead of just shifting tension to the next available spot.
Massage: Helping the Muscles Let Go
Massage then works directly with the muscles and fascia that have been holding all that tension.
Hands-on work helps:
increase circulation (fresh blood and nutrients in, waste products out)
soften tight, overworked muscles
release some of the “bracing” your body has been doing
send a calming signal back to the nervous system
Together, chiropractic and massage support both the wiring (nervous system) and the hardware (muscles/joints).
That’s why people often tell us things like:
“I don’t just feel looser—my whole body feels more settled.”
“The pain isn’t jumping around as much.”
“I’m finally starting to feel like myself again.”
What You Can Start Paying Attention To
If you’re in the “pain musical chairs” phase, here are a few things to notice (no judgment, just information):
When does your pain move or flare—busy weeks, poor sleep, emotional stress, long drives, computer days?
Does your body feel like it’s always bracing or guarding?
Do you feel tired in your muscles and tired in your brain?
All of that helps us read what your nervous system is trying to manage.
You Don’t Just Have to “Live With It”
I never want you to feel like you’re stuck with a rotating list of body parts that hurt.
Pain that moves isn’t your body being difficult.
It’s your body waving a little flag saying,
“Hey… I’m handling a lot here. Can we get some support?”
And the good news? We can support it.
At A. Butler Chiropractic, we use chiropractic and massage together to:
calm the nervous system
improve how your joints and spine move
release tension in overworked muscles
help your body organize movement in a way that feels safer and more sustainable
If it feels like your pain has been playing musical chairs lately, you don’t have to just shrug and say, “That’s getting older, I guess.”
You can:
book online HERE, or
call 724-822-1828 and we’ll help you find a time that works with real life, not a fantasy schedule.
Your body isn’t failing you.
It’s talking to you.
And we’d love to help you listen to it in a way that actually leads to relief.