The link between lower back pain and your feet

Out of all the conditions that people will seek treatment for at Lifemark clinics, one of the most common ones is mechanical lower back pain. It’s estimated that about 80% of adults will experience lower back pain in their lifetime, so if you are experiencing it, you’re not alone!

One of the treatment options for lower back pain that is often overlooked is custom foot orthotics, which can improve one’s gait mechanics, sometimes a contributing factor to mechanical lower back pain.

It’s all connected

Do you remember that song that goes a little something like “the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone…”? Well, the song was telling the truth!

This idea of interconnectedness in our body can often be overlooked when attempting to address mechanical lower back pain.

As those lyrics say, the human skeleton is all connected, and therefore if there’s a mechanical deficiency in one area, it can often affect other parts of the body as well.

If we consider the feet as the starting point for mechanical function when we are moving from one place to another, it would seem like a sensible starting point to alter mechanics to see the affect it can have on our joints higher up the body.

Foot mechanics can alter gait in a few ways

There are a few different mechanical issues and conditions that can cause altered gait mechanics, which can be improved with well-designed custom foot orthotics:

• Over Pronation (sometimes diagnosed as Pes Planus): when the feet tend to roll inward too much, resulting in a medial shift of the lower leg

• Supination (sometimes diagnosed as Pes Cavus): when the feet tend to roll outward excessively, resulting in a lateral shift of the lower leg
   
• Heel Pain/Plantar Facsiitis: chronic heel pain, resulting in altered gait mechanics as you try to avoid pain while walking
   
• Metatarsalgia (Ball of foot pain): if the forefoot is in pain, it can be painful during the toe off phase of gait, which can alter mechanical function

As you can see, there are a number of ways that foot mechanics or pain can result in altered gait mechanics, which can affect other areas that are directly connected to the feet.

If you are currently suffering from some form of mechanical lower back pain, a good place to start your treatment would be a foot assessment.

With proper gait analysis, you can determine if custom foot orthotics will help you to correct your gait and improve your back pain.

Orthotic assessments and custom foot orthotics are provided at many Lifemark clinics across the country. You don’t need to live with pain - find a clinic near you and start your recovery.