Nobody goes into Midsummer thinking about their spine
That's exactly the problem.
You sit in the car for three hours to get to the cottage. You sleep on a mattress that last saw action in 1994. You dance barefoot on uneven ground after months of sitting at a desk. You carry the cool box. You dig out the garden furniture. You wake up the next morning and something that wasn't there on Friday is very much there on Saturday.
I see it every year without exception. The week after Midsummer brings a wave of patients with neck stiffness, lower back pain, and muscle soreness that seemed to come from nowhere. It never comes from nowhere. Midsummer, for all its joy, stacks several physical stresses into a single weekend and the body eventually responds.
Which pattern do you notice most in your own body?
The drive there is already loading your spine
The drive there is already loading your spine
Sitting in a car for two or three hours is not neutral. Research confirms that unsupported sitting increases intradiscal pressure in the lumbar spine by approximately 30% compared to standing. A 2026 study from Ulm University Medical Centre, examining 107 human spinal units, found that sustained loading compounds this pressure especially in discs that are already under stress from age or prior loading.
Add whole-body vibration from the road, a fixed posture, and a seat that offers little lumbar support and you've spent the first hours of your holiday systematically loading your lower back before you've even unpacked.
30% Increase in lumbar intradiscal pressure from unsupported sitting vs standing. Source: PubMed systematic review.
Going from zero to Midsummer in one afternoon
Someone sits at a desk for 48 weeks of the year. Then Midsummer arrives and in one afternoon they're dancing, running, carrying things, sleeping on an unfamiliar surface, and waking up to dig the garden.
Muscles that haven't been used in months have reduced endurance and are more susceptible to soreness from unaccustomed movement particularly eccentric movements, which is exactly what dancing, walking on uneven ground, and carrying involves. The soreness doesn't usually arrive in the moment. You feel fine on Saturday. You wake up Sunday and can't turn your neck. The inflammation builds after the activity, not during it.
Move before you do anything physical. Ten minutes of walking and gentle spinal rotation before the day starts changes what your body can handle. It sounds too simple. It works.
The mattress that's been there since 1994
Sleep is when the spine recovers discs rehydrate muscles repair the nervous system processes the day. This works best when the spine is supported in a neutral position through the night.
A mattress that's too soft lets the hips sink and the lumbar spine bow. Too hard creates pressure at the shoulders and hips. An unfamiliar pillow puts the cervical spine under hours of sustained tension. Eight hours in an unsupported position is eight hours of loading that should have been recovery.
A folded towel under the lower back if the mattress is too soft. A pillow between the knees if you sleep on your side. Bring your own pillow if you can. Small adjustments real difference.
Why Midsummer injuries are rarely about one thing
Observation
The interesting thing about Midsummer injuries is that they rarely happen because of one thing. They happen because several small stresses arrive at the same time.
Long sitting. Poor sleep. Dehydration. Sudden physical activity after months of inactivity. The body handles each of them well in isolation. It's the combination arriving within 48 hours that creates the problem.
The same pattern appears in organisations and in health: systems don't fail from a single cause. They fail when multiple smaller stresses converge faster than the system can adapt. The body is no different. The problem starts before the pain.
Come back on Monday feeling like yourself
Move before you do anything physical. Stop every 90 minutes in the car. Drink water consistently not just when thirsty. Lift with your legs, keep loads close to your body, don't twist while carrying. And if something does go wrong nerve symptoms, sharp pain, significant stiffness that doesn't ease come in early. Early treatment changes outcomes far more than waiting a week.
Glad midsommar!
Enjoy the people the food and the long evening light that makes Midsummer uniquely Swedish.
And be kind to your spine.
"There is a certain peace that comes with knowing less and choosing better."
Until the next signal,
Dr Erik Rudberg
Chiropractor
Most people wait for pain. The attentive ones notice the signal.
