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That pain in your back could be linked to your feet



Back pain is a common ailment plaguing many people and affecting their everyday activities from work to social activities. Sometimes it’s quite obvious why our backs hurt, be it from an injury, repetitive strain, or an old mattress; other times we have no idea why our backs hurt.

The truth is that there are dozens of potential causes of back pain but there’s one which we can and should be looking at, one that’s relatively easy to address, yet one that most of us largely ignore day in and day out … OUR FEET.


Foot pain is NOT normal, it sucks, it’s inconvenient and it affects the rest of our body. Our feet are the foundation of our body and if they aren’t operating as efficiently as they should be, our body compensates. That might work in the short term, but ignoring the problem is not a solution.


A great example is Plantar Fasciitis, which is inflammation and irritation of the Plantar Fascia (the bottom of our feet). This is often caused by excessive pronation of our feet (feet falling inward) which stretches the plantar fascia more than it should. When suffering from Plantar Fasciitis, every step hurts and as a result, we change the way we walk. By changing how we walk, certain muscles in our legs tighten up more than usual which sets off a domino effect and causes muscles in our kinetic chain to tighten.


Think of it as a chain of events like this:

Your feet hurt → you walk differently → your calf muscles and Achilles tendon tighten → Your hamstrings and glutes tighten → the muscles in the lumbar region of your back tighten and VOILA … back pain.

When laid out in a chain of events, it’s easy to understand how directly foot pain can quickly lead to back pain.


What Should I Do?

1. For starters … don’t ignore it! We’ve all come home from a long day of walking around all day, only to lie down on the couch, put up our tired, sore feet and repeat, day after day.

2. Pay attention to lifestyle changes: Have you started doing any new activities, changed footwear, gained or lost weight.

3. Pay attention to your entire body: Is anything hurting or feeling different than normal? What time of day does it hurt more? What makes it feel better?

Now that you’ve been more attentive to your feet, and your whole body, you’ll be armed with a lot of valuable information for the next and most important step:

4.See a Chiropodist:

A Chiropodist is a foot specialist who is specially trained to identify and treat conditions and injuries in the foot and ankle and to find solutions for their patients.


At HealthCasa, our Chiropodists take that a step further and work with their patients to look at their medical history, lifestyle, activities, frequency and intensity of activities, footwear and anything else that might be contributing to their issue. By working together with our Chiropodists, our patients come away with a better understanding of what is contributing to their pain and why, AND a thorough treatment plan.


Experiencing foot, ankle, knee, hip, or back pain? Learn more HERE.

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