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Your Feet and Your Aching Back

So, you think that your feet can’t possibly be related to your chronic lower back pain, and that it’s ridiculous to even suggest such a thing. Well, think again, because if your lower back aches all the time, you really need to have a look at your feet!

Consider these facts:

• Back pain is one of the leading causes of disability in adults under the age of 45

• 80% of all people will have at least one episode of lower back pain during their lifetime

• Most people are born with nearly perfect feet; by age 20, 80% of all humans have some type of foot abnormality and at age 40, nearly everyone has some type of foot disorder

Do you remember the words to the old spiritual poem/song, “Dem Bones,” the song that was used in Bible study to teach anatomy to small children?

The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone
The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone
The knee bone’s connected to the thighbone
The thighbone’s connected to the hipbone
The hipbone’s connected to the backbone
The backbone’s connected to the neck bone
The neck bone’s connected to the head bone…

So, as this song suggests, it does all start with the feet, the foundation of the body. If there is something structurally wrong with your feet, the rest of your body can suffer as well.

When you walk, the arches in your feet normally rise and fall and your thighbones and leg bones rotate in and out with each step. When there is a problem with your feet (i.e., flat feet), this can affect the rotation of the leg bones, which can then affect the knees, hips and lower back.

One way to tell whether your feet are causing your back pain is to notice if your shoes tend to wear unevenly (i.e., the outside soles wear down faster) or if your back pain is worse when you wear a certain pair of shoes or walk barefooted.

If you come into our office complaining of back pain, a few answers to our questions regarding your feet may provide clues as to the source (or one of them) of your back pain. If we find that structural defects in your feet are contributing to your back pain, we may suggest some type of custom orthotic to stabilize your feet, legs, pelvis and spine, along with regular chiropractic adjustments, to realign your spine and lower body, which will relieve stress on your lower back, reducing or even eliminating your back pain.