DR. LEE S. COHEN & ASSOCIATES

SPORTS MEDICINE PODIATRY CENTER

GET RELIEF FROM BACK PAIN

BACK PAIN AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE FEET

Woman wincing and holding her back in pain

One of the main causes of back pain that arises from biomechanical issues related to the foot is flatfeet. It has been shown that excessively flat-footed people can easily develop pain elsewhere than their feet. A lot of chronic low back pain, hip pain, knee, leg, and, ankle pain can develop from being flat-footed.

Here’s how it works, your feet flatten excessively which causes your leg to turn. Your pelvis tilts forward and causes a compression of your lower back. This occurs with abnormal muscle pulls of the hip and back muscles which are related to the flat-footed position.

With tightening of the muscles around the lower back (called splinting) comes a decrease in the blood flow to your intervertebral discs (the fluid-filled cushions between your vertebrae). Without a good blood supply, these discs desiccate or dry out and weaken. One day you’re bending over to pick up your sneakers and you’re not just picking up the weight of your sneakers you’re picking up the weight of the top half of your body and these dried-out discs, explode medically we call this herniated disc. Then you get severe pain in the back and maybe numbness down your leg, we call this condition sciatica.

So, if you have this kind of back pain before you get a herniation, you should get a biomechanical lower extremity exam and make sure that your feet aren’t the problem.

Call our offices located in Cherry Hill, N.J. or Ridley Park, PA. or reach out via our contact form today to schedule your complete biomechanical assessment and comprehensive examination at (610) 522-9200.