Happy Sunday! Yesterday I was on the lake, and it was great. I hope you had a wonderful Saturday as well.
Continuing with what I discussed yesterday about back pain, I wanted to talk about an overlooked cause of back pain. This has to do with your feet. I go into more detail below.
Enjoy the article.
Take care!
~Rick
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
Fix Your Footwear to Ease Your Back Pain
I want to go through today how you can fix your footwear to ease your back pain.
There is research out there showing that if you have back pain, utilizing orthotics can help. Using expensive orthotics is like putting braces on your teeth that change the position of your teeth.
Regarding orthotics, you are changing the position of your feet and the rest of your body.
So before you jump into orthotics, I wanted to give you some steps that you can take.
First, look at your shoes.
Are the shoes that you are wearing putting unnecessary stress on your feet? A great example is wearing high-heeled shoes. These put unnecessary stress on your feet, leading to unnecessary stress on your back.
Using work boots that don’t have much cushioning puts a lot of stress on your feet and your back. If you wear dress shoes often, that puts a lot of stress on your feet and unnecessary stress on your back.
So look at the shoes that you wear. Can you change them? Can you get more comfortable shoes to ease your back pain?
Second, look at the age of your shoes.
Because as you wear down your shoes, you lose the support and the cushion from them.
An example would be my father. He was getting all kinds of foot pain when walking. I looked at his shoes; they looked good but old. I asked him how long he had had them. He bought them five years ago and had been using them for that long. So the shoes have lost their support and cushioning. Changing up your shoes is essential.
Third, go bare feet more often.
Most of the time, we have shoes and socks on. This decreases the deep stimulation at the bottom of the feet, strengthening the foot.
Fourth, train in a good foot position.
Suppose you go to the gym and do exercises on your feet like squats or deadlifts; work on having your foot in a good position to strengthen your feet. Load through your feet with heavier squats, front squats, back squats, and deadlifts that strengthen your feet more.
Fifth, start with new, better, and more appropriate shoes for you.
Go to a store where someone can help you select the most appropriate shoes for you. Some running shoes are designed to provide your feet with better support and cushioning and help ease back pain.
Sixth, try over-the-counter insoles.
You might need a little bit of support in your insoles compared to just new shoes. Most shoe companies have been saving more and more money by putting in lower-quality insoles. Make sure to get a higher quality insole with more cushioning and a little bit more support.
Seventh, look at strengthening your feet.
Doing foot-strengthening exercises will help you.
Eighth, look at decreasing your weight.
If you are overweight or obese, decreasing your weight will help you overcome your back injuries.
Lastly, as a last resort, try orthotics.
If you have lower back pain, look at your feet. Your feet might be the solution.
Remember, you can jump straight to the orthotics, which is like putting braces on your feet. It changes everything.
I would try to do these things first:
- Check to ensure that your shoes are not putting excessive stress on your feet.
- Make sure your shoes are not overly old.
- Try to be barefoot more often.
- Train in a good foot position.
- Wear new and more appropriate shoes for you.
- Try over-the-counter insoles.
- Look at strengthening your feet by doing foot strengthening exercises
- Decrease your weight
- Try orthotics.
Final Word
Enter in your injury or pain. There is a good chance that I have an article, a video, or an interview for you to help you overcome your injury or pain.
If you watch this on YouTube, head above and hit “Subscribe.” When you subscribe, every couple of days, you will get a video like this where I talk about injury or pain, a guest interview that I did with someone, or a video from one of my friends in the health and fitness world.
Lastly, head down below hit “Like,” and leave me a comment or question.
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS
If you want to end your back discomfort once and for all, click here to check out the Low Back Pain Solved program.
