diff --git a/frontend/src/components/PageShell.dom.test.tsx b/frontend/src/components/PageShell.dom.test.tsx
index 8b526bc4..5d1f2a78 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/PageShell.dom.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/PageShell.dom.test.tsx
@@ -50,4 +50,27 @@ describe("PageShell --hdr-h (E5 S7)", () => {
     const { container } = render(<PageShell>content</PageShell>);
     expect(container.querySelector('[class*="pt-(--hdr-h)"]')).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it("re-measures when the header is removed then restored (feed→channel→back)", () => {
+    // PageShell is REUSED across feed↔channel navigation (same component position in App.tsx) — it
+    // never remounts, so the header DOM node is swapped under a stable PageShell. The measurement
+    // must re-run on that swap; a one-shot effect kept observing the FIRST node and, when it detached,
+    // rewrote --hdr-h to a stale 8px that stuck on Back. Regression for the channel-Back header overlap.
+    const hdr = () => <div data-testid="hdr">H</div>;
+    const { container, rerender } = render(<PageShell header={hdr()}>content</PageShell>);
+    const measure = (top: number, h: number) => {
+      const el = container.querySelector('[data-testid="hdr"]') as HTMLElement;
+      Object.defineProperty(el, "offsetTop", { value: top, configurable: true });
+      Object.defineProperty(el, "offsetHeight", { value: h, configurable: true });
+      roCb?.();
+    };
+    measure(12, 52);
+    const content = () => container.querySelector('[class*="pt-(--hdr-h)"]') as HTMLElement;
+    expect(content().style.getPropertyValue("--hdr-h")).toBe("72px"); // 12 + 52 + 8
+
+    rerender(<PageShell>content</PageShell>); // → channel page: header gone
+    rerender(<PageShell header={hdr()}>content</PageShell>); // → Back: header returns as a NEW node
+    measure(12, 52); // fires the NEW header's observer
+    expect(content().style.getPropertyValue("--hdr-h")).toBe("72px"); // re-measured, not the stale 8px
+  });
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/PageShell.tsx b/frontend/src/components/PageShell.tsx
index 98d302a7..3e58fe5f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/PageShell.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/PageShell.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import {
   isValidElement,
   useContext,
   useLayoutEffect,
-  useRef,
   useState,
   type ReactElement,
   type ReactNode,
@@ -65,35 +64,42 @@ export default function PageShell({
   const [toolbarSlot, setToolbarSlot] = useState<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   // The floating header pads the content below it by `--hdr-h`. That must equal the header's REAL
   // height, which grows as the flex-wrap header wraps to 2–3 rows on a narrow window — a fixed pad
-  // would let the content toolbar slide up under it (E5 S7). Measure the header (a ref forwarded onto
-  // its root box) and write its height straight onto the content wrapper that consumes `--hdr-h`, so
-  // the two live together with no assumption about the header's DOM parent.
-  const headerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
-  const contentRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  // would let the content toolbar slide up under it (E5 S7). Measure the header and write its height
+  // straight onto the content wrapper that consumes `--hdr-h`.
+  //
+  // Both nodes are held in STATE (callback refs), NOT plain refs behind a one-shot `useLayoutEffect([])`:
+  // PageShell is reused — never remounted — across feed↔channel navigation (same component position in
+  // App.tsx), so the header DOM node is swapped out from under a stable PageShell. A one-shot effect keeps
+  // observing the FIRST header node; when that node detaches on channel-open, its ResizeObserver fires with
+  // a 0 box and rewrites --hdr-h to `0+0+8`=8px on the (still-mounted) content div. On Back the pad class
+  // returns with that stale 8px → the content toolbar slides up under the header, stuck until reload. Keying
+  // the measurement to the live node re-runs it every time the header mounts/unmounts, so it stays correct.
+  const [headerEl, setHeaderEl] = useState<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  const [contentEl, setContentEl] = useState<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   useLayoutEffect(() => {
-    const h = headerRef.current;
-    const c = contentRef.current;
-    if (!h || !c) return;
+    if (!headerEl || !contentEl) {
+      // No header (channel page) → drop any stale pad so a leftover value can't linger.
+      contentEl?.style.removeProperty("--hdr-h");
+      return;
+    }
     // `+ 8` = the header's own gap-y-2 row gap (0.5rem), reused as the gap below it.
-    const apply = () => c.style.setProperty("--hdr-h", `${h.offsetTop + h.offsetHeight + 8}px`);
+    const apply = () =>
+      contentEl.style.setProperty("--hdr-h", `${headerEl.offsetTop + headerEl.offsetHeight + 8}px`);
     apply();
     const ro = new ResizeObserver(apply);
-    ro.observe(h);
-    return () => {
-      ro.disconnect();
-      c.style.removeProperty("--hdr-h");
-    };
-  }, []);
+    ro.observe(headerEl);
+    return () => ro.disconnect();
+  }, [headerEl, contentEl]);
   const measuredHeader = isValidElement(header)
     ? cloneElement(header as ReactElement<{ ref?: Ref<HTMLDivElement> }>, {
-        ref: headerRef,
+        ref: setHeaderEl,
       })
     : header;
   return (
     <PageToolbarSlot.Provider value={toolbarSlot}>
       {measuredHeader}
       <div
-        ref={contentRef}
+        ref={setContentEl}
         className={`flex-1 min-w-0 min-h-0 flex flex-col ${header ? "pt-(--hdr-h)" : ""}`}
       >
         {banners}