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Forums › Trooper’s Training Forum – In memory of Col. James “Jim” R Tirey, USA › Back Pain Update
I know there have been a bunch of back pain threads, and wanted to post an update to prior threads as mine had sometimes gotten in the way of exercise and other QOL stuff.
I damaged a pair of good running shoes on my bike, and got replacements, but used the old ones as around-the-house, gardening, etc. I noticed fairly quickly my back pain reduced, so I wore them a lot, and it went away. I mentioned it to my wife, who said, “Yeah, why do you think old people wear orthopedic shoes?”
While I don’t think footwear is the permanent answer, it’s certainly enough for me to resume any activities, including back health ones, which is extremely worthwhile, and if somebody told me I could eliminate it, even temporarily, for the cost of supportive running shoes I’d jump at it.
YMMV, but this was a good find for me.
did you try spending more time barefoot?
Before a few months ago my work was in an office, so extended barefoot time was impractical. I did do this on weekends, to no good effect.
Or are you saying that you fucked up some part of the running shoes that was independent of the sole of the shoe and the still viable lower portion was supportive enough to spare your back?
Yeah I ripped the upper in a spot that probably wouldn’t hold up to running. The support, heel cushion, etc. seems to have done enough to give the back time to recover.
On the whole foot thing
The “go around barefoot” to strengthen your feet narrative has been around for a while. While it isn’t wrong, it’s inappropriate for someone who has issues that are stemming from their feet to pursue this to fix what is wrong with them. You goals are a) get out of pain b) resume normal activity then finally c) fix the foot issues you are having by strengthening them in a progressive and appropriate manner.
Getting out of pain often involves new shoes or orthotics.
Most people have feet that have been in a shoe for their entire life. This doesn’t mean you can’t get them stronger or go barefoot more, it just means that your foot is retarded and you are unable to control the foot adequately or even to receive the signals from the foot.
Having adequate dorsiflexion of the foot and extension and flexion of the big toe is where most people should start.
I am currently dealing with plantar fasciitis for the 4th or 5th time in my life. Stretching wasn’t working. Higher load calf work wasn’t working. What does seem to be working is using a theraband to strengthen both flexion and extension of my big toes and working my tibialis again.
Every part of the musculo-skeletal system is connected. Back pain a lot of the time is the end result of multiple imbalances. Some muscles too weak, some too strong, short, loose etc. That’s why programs that address multiple levels of movement are most successful. Stretching the hamstrings and hip flexors, strengthening the multifidi, moving and strengthening back movements through various angles will help the majority of back problems.
The relationship of the feet and the back is an interesting one. A few years ago I went to Europe in winter and was wearing Ugg Boots, a very loose kind of boots made out of sheep skins. After couple of weeks my wife noticed that my right foot is pronated. I know for sure this is because of some imbalance in my lower back. If some imbalances in the back make the feet move out of wack, I wouldn’t be surprised if the problems with feet cause problems with the back. It probably works on a continuous feedback loop.
I used to be skeptical of kinesiologists. Their talk about this fascia causing that problem still doesn’t make sense to me. Now I think these guys operate similarly to the specialists in Chinese medicine. The concept can be strange, but in practice it works because they address problems in more global way than my colleagues.
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