Is There A Link Between Insoles And Back Pain?
Pain in the lower back can be felt in various forms – as mild pain that comes and goes gradually, or as severe pain that can stop you right in your tracks.
While common, finding out the exact cause of lower back pain can sometimes be tricky especially if the problem lies in your feet.
This is because your feet guide the movement of your whole body, so it is necessary to maintain good foot health in order to prevent the chance of common health complaints, including low back pain.
Besides body pain, this will also help prevent painful foot conditions such as plantar fasciitis and bunions.
Back pain can be caused by foot posture problems.
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Lower back pain is sometimes mistakenly thought to be caused by wearing insoles, or removable inserts that are placed in shoes.
On the contrary, if you have flat arches, insoles help to bring an improvement in your back pain by treating the root cause of the issue – flat feet.
If you’re still wondering how your feet can affect your lower back, then it is worth taking a closer look at what happens to your body with flat arches.
How flat feet cause low back pain
Foot posture problems such as flat arches affect the alignment of your muscles, tendons and joints. As you walk, this places unnecessary stress on certain parts of your body, such as your ankles, knees, hips and lower back.
If left untreated, you will gradually experience pain and discomfort in the muscles and joints. Moreover, you may also notice an unevenness in your overall posture – the right and left sides of your body may not look evenly aligned.
This is why providing proper support to your feet in the form of insoles becomes essential in the treatment of lower back pain caused by foot posture problems.
This is especially true when included in a detailed treatment programme that consists of spinal adjustments, strengthening and stretching exercises and/or pain relief therapies.
Sometimes tightness in the calf muscles can limit movement at the ankle joint, which causes muscles in your lower back to overwork in order to maintain an upright posture.
With insoles in your shoes, your feet are held in positions that are well-suited to the rest of the body. This promotes movement of the joints within their healthy range of motion.
What do your insoles need to have?
When you purchase an insole, you are essentially buying a product that has been created to provide optimal support to your feet.
For this reason, it is necessary that your insole has the right blend of flexibility for movement, and strength for structural support.
This will ensure that the product is comfortable for you to wear, and is able to deliver the type of support needed for treatment.
A good way to determine this is by looking at the arch of the insole. Press your thumb down on the insole arch. If it gets pushed down easily, then the insole will definitely not be capable of supporting your bodyweight.
Foot Pain Relief, Injury Prevention, Better Posture and Sports Performance in One Insole buy now
Another feature to consider is the fit of the insole. Your feet should feel comfortably supported by the insoles while walking. If they’re too short or too long, your feet will not make proper contact with the insole, and as a result, there will be no real functional change.
Remember, while it is normal to feel a bit of discomfort in the first few days of wearing your insoles, your foot movement should never be restricted to the point where you start experiencing pain in your feet.
What to expect from your insole?
With your feet moving in a healthy manner, your lower body also functions efficiently, enhancing your overall posture.
You can expect to see visual changes in your overall posture within the first few weeks of wearing your insoles – the left and right sides of your body will seem more even.
As a result, you will begin to notice changes in the way you walk, with huge improvements in balance and stability.
If back pain had been slowing you down before, you’ll slowly find yourself being able to walk better and longer.
This is because of a reduction in stress on your lower back as you move, which helps promote a gradual recovery from back pain over a period of time.
Insoles help you move faster with less pain in your feet or lower back. These will also help prevent foot posture issues that can create more problems in the future.
What else can you do for back pain?
While wearing insoles is a great way to stabilise your body’s movement patterns, these will be more effective when combined with other treatment programmes for back pain or flat feet.
For flat feet, you can try arch strengthening exercises such as towel scrunches.
To perform this exercise, you simply need to place a towel under each foot (one at a time) and grab it with your toes until you reach the edge.
Since calf tightness is commonly linked to back pain, you can also practise stretches to loosen up tight calf muscles.
A good calf stretch exercise involves standing on a short step and sliding one foot back so that your heel drops to the ground. You can hold a wall or chair for support while doing this.
Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and repeat it five times for each foot.
This can help in reducing pain and increasing the range of motion in your back. So, you should be able to turn and move better, with less pain in your lower back.
Massages can help in providing relief from back pain to a certain extent. By improving blood flow to the painful area, massages stimulate the natural healing process to bring you temporary relief from back pain.
You will be able to see quicker results by including two or more forms of treatment together. However, it is always better to first seek the advise of a doctor who can examine your back and determine the best way to treat it.
As compared to some of the other devices available in the market, insoles are a relatively easy way to obtain relief from back pain for a longer period of time.
This is because the main focus of insoles is to fix the deeper issue of improper movement of the body that stresses your back and causes pain.
Live without pain
Managing a condition like back pain should involve taking care of not only the symptoms, but the main cause of the problem as well. It is only then that you can expect to receive long-term relief from back pain.
A successful treatment programme for back pain will help you live with minimal pain and boost your quality of life. This should make it increasingly easier for you to perform everyday activities without worrying too much about back pain.
Foot Pain Relief, Injury Prevention, Better Posture and Sports Performance in One Insole buy now
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