Did you know your feet can make your back hurt?

Did you know your feet can make your back hurt?

A study in the Medical Journal of Rhumatology¹ suggests that women who walk with flat feet are 50 percent more prone to lower back pain than those who have high or normal arches.

While this has been suspected for many years, and researchers such as Brian Rothbart² have written about this with his concept of bio implosion, there is more to back pain than just flat feet, high arches and being female.

Body style and asymmetry, combined with flat feet or lower arches almost guarantees you will experience lower back pain. The reason is because flat feet are inefficient, causing the leg to be in a poor alignment anatomically with the ground, and as a result, is more stressful on the ankle, foot, knee and lower back as the person walks. If one leg is different than the other, it will creating an unequal loading on the pelvis creating a condition called tortipelvis.

The reason this causes lower back pain is because the body as you walk engages the pelvis first and the legs second. If the pelvis works differently on one side, as compared to the other, the effect on the pelvis is similar to taking a towel and twisting it.

This torsion, with the unequal weight distribution it causes affects the way you walk, and the myofascia which is the connective tissue that covers the muscles surrounding the pelvis distorts the pelvis. The end result is sacroiliac pain, leg pain, knee pain, foot pain and even upper body and neck pain as the upper body compensates.

The effect is lower back problems and chronic pain. The solution is to find someone who understands the problems are greater than just looking at the lower back; you need a healthcare provider who looks at the entire body.

The book Cheating Mother Nature, what you need to know to beat chronic pain is a great resource for anyone who suffers from lower back pain since it explains what happens, allows people to understand why they hurt and how to find the right healthcare provider to help them get relief.

Often people see chiropractors as being the most effective resource for lower back pain, however, there is more to lower back pain than just the lower back. Find someone who looks at you, not just the symptoms you arrived with for the best relief of lower back pain.

Cheating Mother Nature, what you need to know to beat chronic pain is available through Amazon.com and other booksellers. Dr. William Charschan is a chiropractic sports physician with offices in Scotch Plains and North Brunswick NJ. Find out more by visiting www.backfixer1.com

1. http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/09/17/rheumatology.ket298.abstract
2. http://www.rothbartsite.com/uploads/Chronic_LBP.pdf