How Can I Tell If My Feet Are Involved In My Low Back Pain?
As a Bellevue Chiropractor I have found that 60-70% of the people that suffer with low back pain also have some sort of dysfunction in their feet. This dysfunction, over time, can create and be the very cause of the pain in their back. The vast majority of my patients who present this way have no idea that there is anything wrong in their feet, they just know that they have back pain! In my office I use a digital foot scanner, and biomechanical testing to evaluate every low back pain patient for this problem, and complication
The foot is one of the most important structures in the body when it comes to bio-mechanics. The foot is the first line of defense against the ground. All of the stress of your body is pushed right through your foot when you walk or stand. If there is any bio-mechanical failure in the foot, it has profound effects on the rest of the body. As I always say, “If your foundation is crooked, all of you will be crooked”. Lets look at some ways to know if you have foot problems.
1. Take a look at the bottom of your shoes. Is there any wear on the heel of the shoe? If there is, is it worse on one side or the other? Unequal wear can be an indicator that you have a foot issue that is causing you to walk imbalanced. Now your going to need to look at a pair of shoes that you wear quite often as these imbalances may take some time to wear down the tread. This is very similar to wear on the tires of your car. If the alignment of the car is off, it will wear down the tire tread very fast.
2. At any point in your life have you sprained your ankle? Since that ankle sprain do you find that you now sprain your ankle very easily? If you sprain your ankle you are either rolling the foot in or out, and potentially damaging the tissues of the arches of your feet. Rolling or spraining your ankle is one big indicator you may have problems in your feet.
3. the third indicator that your feet maybe causing your back pain, is simply if you have pain in your feet, ankles or knees. Many of the people that come to see me for their back pain also have foot pain. Usually these people do not make the connection between their foot pain and their back pain. It is important to look at the entire body as one big chain if there is any weaknesses within the links of the chain the entire system will fall apart.
4. Do you have flat feet? Flat feet are a sign that a few of the bones that make up the arches of your feet have dropped out of place. Think of the arches of your feet as the shock absorbers of your body. They take all of the stress out of the impact when your foot hits the ground. If you have lost the arch of your foot, this is a huge indicator that your feet are creating back pain.
My main focus with my patients is finding the cause of their pain. As we discussed in this article foot dysfunction or bio-mechanical problems within your foot can be a main causation of low back pain. Finding the specific problem within the foot and fixing it can go a long ways to helping with low back pain and potentially fixing it. The way that I correct foot problems is by assessing the foot for the need of custom orthotics, chiropractic adjustments to realign misaligned bones, and soft tissue work to take the stress out of the arch.
Dr. Weir is located at 2112 116th Ave NE, Suite A, Bellevue WA 98004 , or you can call his office at 425-635-0495.. Free reprint available from: How Can I Tell If My Feet Are Involved In My Low Back Pain?.
