Your Body Is a Master Compensator—Until It’s Not

By Dr. Andrew Kakishita | Kinetic Chiropractic – Lehi, UT

Your body is remarkably clever. When something isn’t moving or working the way it should, it figures out how to adapt so you can keep functioning. This is called compensation, and it’s the reason you can still run, lift, or sit at your desk even when something isn’t quite right.

Why Compensation Happens

Imagine you sprain your ankle. To protect it, your body shifts weight to the other leg. That change helps you walk without too much pain—but over time, it can cause knee, hip, or back strain on the “good” side. The same thing happens with old injuries, poor posture, or repetitive motions. Muscles tighten to protect vulnerable areas. Joints start moving differently. Overworked tissues get tired and sore.

When It Starts to Break Down

At first, these compensations are helpful. But eventually, the system runs out of ways to adapt. That’s when you start noticing:

• Chronic pain that seems to move around
• One side of your body always feeling tighter
• New injuries popping up without a clear cause

Your body is giving you signals that the chain of compensation is maxed out.

How Chiropractic Helps

Instead of just treating where it hurts, I look for why it hurts. Maybe your low back pain actually starts with stiff hips, or your shoulder pain began with an old rib injury. By restoring proper movement, releasing tight tissues, and retraining how you move, we can break the cycle of compensation—and help your body work the way it’s meant to.

Takeaway

You don’t have to keep patching things up. Let’s find the real source of the problem and fix it together.