Why Does My Back Keep Going Out in the Same Spot?

You know the feeling. You've had it a dozen times by now. A specific spot in your mid-back or lower back seizes up, you come in to get adjusted, you feel great for a week or two — and then it's back. Same spot. Same pain. Like clockwork.

You're not imagining it, and you're not doing anything wrong. But there's a very good chance we've been treating only half of the problem.

The Vertebra That Won't Stay Put

In practice, I see this pattern constantly. A patient has been getting adjusted at T5 for two years. Another has the same recurring problem at L1. The adjustments help — they always help — but the relief doesn't last the way it should. Eventually the patient starts wondering if something is wrong with them, or if chiropractic just isn't working.

Here's what's almost certainly happening: the spine isn't the source of the problem. An organ is.

Your spinal nerves don't just carry signals to muscles and joints. They carry autonomic fibers — signals that control the function of your internal organs. The same nerve pathway that supplies your thoracic vertebrae also connects to your stomach, liver, kidneys, and other organs. This connection runs in both directions.

When a vertebra irritates a nerve, the organ on the other end of that pathway can be affected. That's called the somato-visceral reflex. But here's the one that explains your recurring problem: the viscero-somatic reflex, which runs the other direction.

When an organ is chronically stressed — from diet, inflammation, chronic infection, emotional stress, or years of poor function — it sends distress signals back up the nerve pathway. Those signals create chronic muscle tension and ligament stress around the corresponding vertebral level. The vertebra gets pulled back into subluxation over and over again because the organ is continuously driving that tension.

You get adjusted. The segment clears. The organ starts pulling it back almost immediately. Two weeks later, you're back in pain.

Real Patterns I See in Clinic

Let me give you some concrete examples of how this plays out.

The T5/stomach pattern: The patient who keeps coming in with burning pain between the shoulder blades and a restriction at T5 — and who almost always mentions, when I ask, that they have chronic reflux or have been on acid medication for years. The stomach is the organ connected at T5 via its autonomic nerve supply. When the stomach is in chronic distress, T5 stays chronically tight. Adjusting T5 gives relief, but until we also address the stomach reflex — using a technique called CMRT — the problem keeps returning.

The T9-T10/adrenal pattern: I've seen this one so many times with patients who are overworked and under-slept. They have mid-back pain right at T9-T10, and they're exhausted all the time. The adrenal glands sit right at this vertebral level neurologically. When the adrenals are fatigued from chronic stress, they create a persistent pull on T9-T10. Adjusting the spine helps their energy temporarily — but the glands are driving the spinal problem.

The L1-L2/kidney pattern: Patients with chronic low back tension at the upper lumbar who also have subtle signs of kidney stress — frequent urination, lower back fatigue after dehydration, persistent puffiness in the morning. The kidneys correspond neurologically to L1-L2. Once we add renal reflex work to the spinal adjustment, the low back starts holding its correction significantly longer.

I had a patient a few years ago — a woman in her fifties who'd been seeing various chiropractors for fifteen years for the same mid-back problem. Every chiropractor had adjusted it with some success, but it kept coming back. When she came to Pura Vida, I found not just the familiar T6-T7 restriction, but active Chapman's reflex points corresponding to the liver and gallbladder. She had also been dealing with low-grade digestive issues and right shoulder discomfort for years — classic liver/gallbladder referral patterns. We treated the visceral reflex alongside the spinal adjustment, and for the first time in fifteen years, her mid-back stopped returning to the same problem. Within a few months her digestive symptoms had also noticeably improved.

Clues That an Organ May Be Driving Your Spinal Problem

Not every recurrent subluxation has a visceral driver — sometimes it's posture, or a structural issue, or an old injury pattern. But here are signs that an organ may be involved:

• The same vertebral level has been problematic for more than a year, despite consistent care
• You have known chronic conditions affecting an organ — digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue
• Your spinal pain correlates with flares in other health issues (reflux flares and mid-back pain worsen together)
• Standard chiropractic helps but the relief window is consistently short — under two weeks
• You have tenderness in specific abdominal or chest reflex points (something we can test during your exam)
• The pain isn't clearly related to a physical strain or injury

The Pura Vida Protocol: Treating Both Sides of the Loop

When I identify a viscero-somatic loop, the approach changes. We don't just adjust the spine. We use CMRT — Chiropractic Manipulative Reflex Technique — to work with both the vertebral subluxation and the organ reflex simultaneously.

CMRT was developed by Dr. M.B. DeJarnette, who was both a chiropractor and an osteopath. It uses specific soft tissue contacts at Chapman's reflex points to release the visceral component of the nerve loop, combined with the spinal adjustment, to address both ends of the problem at once.

This approach requires Advanced SOT certification through SORSI — something I completed and have been applying clinically for over twenty years. It's not something every chiropractor can offer, and it's one of the things that makes what we do at Pura Vida different from a standard adjusting-table visit.

The treatment itself is gentle. We're not doing forceful manipulation of organs. We're using light soft tissue contacts at specific reflex points while the nervous system recalibrates its response.

Key Takeaways

• Recurring spinal subluxation at the same level is often driven by a viscero-somatic reflex — an organ under stress that keeps pulling the vertebra back out of alignment
• The viscero-somatic reflex runs from organ → spine, as a true neurological feedback loop
• Common patterns include T5/stomach, T9-T10/adrenals, T6-T9/liver and gallbladder, and L1-L2/kidneys
• Adjusting the spine alone addresses only half the loop if an organ is driving the problem
• CMRT addresses both the vertebral subluxation and the organ reflex together
• Signs of a visceral driver include chronic digestive or hormonal symptoms, short-lived adjustment relief, and correlated flare patterns

If your back keeps going out in the same spot and you haven't found lasting relief, there's a good chance we can help you understand why — and do something about it. Give Pura Vida Chiropractic a call at (210) 685-1994. Let's look at the whole picture, not just the spine.