Step Into Back Pain Prevention Feet First: How Footwear Impacts Spinal Health

Could the root cause of your low back pain be found at the root of your body? Sure, lifting weights with bad form, years of pounding the pavement jogging, not to mention sitting with poor posture can all easily throw off your spinal alignment. 

But have you ever thought about how your footwear impacts your lower back? Ideally, you exercise and get plenty of movement every day. But even a short walk from the car to the grocery store and back can cause sharp low back pain if you have footwear with poor arch support. 

The good news is that no matter the quality of the arch support in your shoes, there’s something you can quickly do to relieve low back pain. More on that solution below.

• Why arch support matters
• How improper arch support causes low back pain
• Choosing the best footwear for your lifestyle
• When arch support may actually do more harm than good
• How to relieve low back pain at home in 15 minutes or less

Why Does Arch Support Matter? 

In architecture, an arch is an opening in a structure that is curved on top and designed to distribute weight over a very large mass placed on top of it. It’s the same principle with your feet. For over 100 years, evolutionary biologists have studied the unique aspects of the human foot. But it was only in 2020 that researchers from Yale University discovered something unique about foot arches. 

Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers found that there’s an unsung hero of the foot that provides 40 percent of your foot’s stiffness, allowing you to effortlessly walk, run, or jump. This hitherto underappreciated anatomical marvel of the foot is the transverse tarsal arch. That’s the horizontal curve across the top of your inner foot. Previous to this finding about the transverse arch, arch support focused more on the medial longitudinal arch. That’s the foot arch located on the inside bottom of the foot, running from the ball to the heel. 

So what does this research mean in terms of your low back pain? Well, eventually, orthopedic solutions will vastly improve based on this finding. But until then, you need to support your arches with the technology that’s available now. And those choices boil down to three effective things…

How Does Footwear Impact Spinal Health?

Just like a building requires proper arch support, so do your feet. Without proper arch support, structural deficiencies or weaknesses in the muscles surrounding the arch may cause poor posture, which can lead to back pain. That’s why it’s so important to have the right footwear and arch support. If the arches of your feet are well-supported, it helps distribute your body weight more evenly. This means that your spine stays in a more neutral and comfortable alignment, reducing the strain on your back muscles and ligaments.

But if you have shoes with no arch support, a pair that Fred Flinstone would envy, it may cause the arches to collapse. This, in turn places unnecessary pressure on the spine.

Take This Fork In The Road If You Have Low Back Pain 

So what should you do if you have low back pain that’s at least partially the result of footwear with bad arch support? 

At this point, you have two options. 

First of all, there is debate about whether orthotics are necessary. One school of thought is that because of sedentary lifestyles and a lack of barefoot walking on natural surfaces, the tiny, arch-supportive muscles of the feet have become weaker. This, not the lack of arch support in your shoes is the true cause of low back pain, the theory goes. The mechanism behind the theory is that weakened miniscule foot muscles can cause mechanical defects such as underpronation. That’s when your feet turn excessively outward when you run or walk. This can cause misalignment of the spine and hips, leading to lower back pain. If you subscribe to this theory, the prescription is to build up the muscles around your arch by doing foot exercises and walking barefoot or purchasing minimalist running shoes. 

However, if you have structural abnormalities in your feet or have chronic low back pain—or just don’t want to walk barefoot or spend the time strengthening your feet musculature—wearing shoes with proper support can make all the difference.

Don’t Let Your Feet Be Your Arch Enemy

Although not everybody needs orthotics, if you have chronic low back pain, investing in two items can make all the difference. First, when it comes to arch support, custom orthotics can help (instead of one-size-fits-all slip-ins). So, too, can a new pair of shoes with shock-absorbing soles. A shoe upgrade with custom orthotics may not resolve the root problem of having weak arch-support muscles in the feet, but they can go a long way in mitigating chronic low back pain. 

“Arch supports may provide improved balance and functional mobility while reducing back and lower extremity joint pains,” concludes a study in Applied Nursing Research. In a randomized clinical trial, researchers found that “Six weeks of prescription shoe orthotics significantly improved back pain and dysfunction compared with no treatment.”

The Simple Solution For Low Back Pain No Matter What Shoes You Wear

Investing in custom orthotics and custom shoes (with the guidance of an orthopedist) may cost well over $1000. Posture Pump® back pain devices provide a complementary or alternative option for far less of an investment. 

Ranging in price from $149 to $299, Posture Pump® low back pain products are supported by research studies. These studies demonstrate that Posture Pump®’s patented Expanding Ellipsoidal Decompression (EED®) technology increases vertebral disc hydration, and restores the natural lordotic curve of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine. This leads to an actual reversal of spinal decompression, offering relief from low back discomfort.

The Proof Is In The Customer Reviews 

More than 3 million Posture Pump® units have been sold and the feedback has been extraordinary. Not only do everyday people use Posture Pump® devices to prevent or manage back and neck pain, but even doctors recommend it to their patients. 

Here’s just one out of thousands of positive product reviews:

“My name is Leslie and I work for Dr. Trinh Bender and Dr. Thy Brown at Varai Health Center, Duncan, OK. The Doctors are very pleased with the Posture Pumps®. Patients using both the Cervical and Lumbar pumps have showed significant improvement in their Chiropractic care.”

If you’re unsatisfied with Posture Pump®, return it within 60 days for a full refund minus shipping. There’s no risk in trying it and the benefits can transform your quality of life.

Get in front of your back pain now. Order a Posture Pump® today.