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Lower Back Pain

Aug 25 2016

Santa Fe Are Your Shoes to Blame for Lower Back Pain?

By Jo Van Cutsem

When you think of the causes of back pain, things like sports injuries and heavy lifting probably quickly pop into your head. What you may not know, however, is that there is a less obvious, everyday culprit that can cause that pain: footwear. Your feet are the foundation for all of your movement, and any disruption at that source can put a lot of stress on the rest of your body. Because of this, making healthy decisions about your footwear can greatly reduce your risk for back pain.

Anyone with a job that entails standing for long periods of time, or who regularly has to carry considerable weight at work or at home is particularly vulnerable to the effects of poor footwear.

Connecting backache, and even neck ache to your shoes might not be quite so obvious, however, but the wrong kind of shoe can increase stress on the vertebrae, destabilize the spine and cause fatigue and wear in the muscles and ligaments supporting the spinal column.

It’s not just excessively high heels that can cause back problems; totally flat shoes providing no arch support and the new fitness trend for shoes that separate out the toes can also trigger a cascade of problems in the spine. Some shoes can cause immediate back pain, trigger old injuries to begin hurting again or cause chronic symptoms over time. Shoes affect the way we walk, the way we stand and how much stress is put on the spine as we go about our everyday activities.

shoes cause lower back painA natural gait involves the heel touching the ground first as we step, with the foot’s arch then rolling inwards (referred to as ‘pronation’), then the ball of the foot and the toe make contact and these then provide the momentum to push off the ground again. Those wearing shoes that affect the gait may have either under pronation or over pronation, causing excess shock to the spine or the lower body to rotate inward. Both of these result in excess strain on the back.

Just as ballet flats are terrible for the feet and the spine, so are flip-flops. The peculiar gait necessary to keep flip-flops on the feet causes problems with the back, knees, hips and the feet themselves and such footwear should be avoided for anything other than incidental use at the pool.

When you think of your feet as the foundation for all body movement, it’s easy to understand why worn shoes are a bad idea. They simply don’t offer the support that you need to make sure that your body is moving efficiently and comfortably. Over time, worn shoes offer less shock absorption and arch support, and this can result in back pain as well as a permanent alteration to your gait. Because of this, it’s important to replace your shoes when you notice that they are starting to show wear.

No round-up of shoes bad for the back is complete without the mention of the dreaded stiletto. These narrow-heeled shoes are highly likely to cause a raft of health complications, including leg strain, hip strain, and back pain. High heeled shoes put all the stress on a single point of the foot and every step shoots that stress right up the spine. The body has to work incredibly hard to absorb this stress and balance the body and this can lead to fatigue, wear and tear and premature degeneration of the discs, ligaments, muscles and bones in the spine. Anything over a two inch heel is advised against and even lower heels should only be worn very occasionally as these too can destabilize the spine.

Athletic shoes, on the other hand, have quality cushioning and shock absorption since they are designed for physical activity. Because of this, they are some of the most comfortable, back-friendly footwear options.

Your choice of footwear, together with Eldoa-exercises, offers a daily opportunity to do right by your spine. So, next time you have back ache after a long day standing at work consider whether your shoes are to blame for your lower back pain.

Now, that you have read all the above information, you might understand why we prefer to go barefoot during the workout sessions at SolCore Fitness.

Thanks,

Jo Van Cutsem

 

 

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Written by SolCoreFitness · Categorized: Blog, Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle · Tagged: back pain, Health and Fitness, Lower Back Pain, SolCore Fitness

Mar 07 2016

Lower Back Pain – The Pelvis, The Base Of Our Body

How Training The Pelvis Helps Lower Back Pain

Hello again,

It has been about a month since you have last heard from me through the blog page. Although, I already knew I wanted to write about the “base” of our body – the pelvis – and its importance for our daily functions, I wanted to wait until the end of my ELDOA-2 course.

With more insight and working knowledge of the body, I am hoping that this blog can give you a better understanding of why the trainers at SolCore Fitness focus so much on the pelvis ‘tucks’ during the warm-up in each session we teach.

You might have read or heard that I have been (and still want to be) very active in my sports ‘career’ and consider myself a fit individual. My cardio fitness level might be very good, and I appear to be physically fit, not everything is as it seems.  During our hands-on ELDOA-training, I was informed that my spine looks like that of an old man. Really, it’s not just lower back pain, I also have a kyphosis in the thoracic spine and a forward lean in my cervical spine. (Chin tucks are really hard for me to do properly and maintain during an exercise) I had no idea, I was so out of whack …

Nevertheless, with daily ELDOA postures I can maintain the pain and even adjust the curvatures in my spine, so I can keep swimming, cycling, running, skiing, hiking and perform regular chores around the house.

Because, everything is connected in the body with ‘chains’, the cause of my back issues are likely muscle imbalances from repetitive motion and poor exercise-technique, resulting in a slight tilt of my pelvic floor, which effects the rest of the spine. When muscles become short and tight, the antagonist (opposite) muscle often becomes long and weak. This creates an imbalance in the body. The body learns faulty reoccurring patterns. So, with the proper technique and enough repetitions, you can re-learn your body to be in a better posture and go through life more comfortably.

Maintaining a neutral pelvis position is achieved via the opposing force-coupling between 4 major muscle groups that all have attachments to the pelvis. When these muscles demonstrate good balance, the pelvis holds an optimal position.

A few facts; Back pain in one of the most common reasons people miss work and visit the doctor. There are very few people who never experience back pain in their lifetime. Americans spend $50 billion every year on lower back pain, which is the most common. Second to the common cold, back pain is one of the leading causes of missed work and it causes more lost days of productivity in the workplace than any other medical condition. Unfortunately, the treatment and management of back pain can be ineffective.

Doing ELDOA is not a magic pill, but it does strengthen the postural system, by mobilizing the intrinsic muscles and normalizing the tensions throughout the body and spine. “Creating” space also increases blood flow, reduces disc pressure, spinal disc rehydration, better muscle tone and a sense of wellbeing and awareness.

So, if you don’t want a spine like mine, please, do your “homework”, especially the wall stretch, ELDOA for L5-S1.

Thank you,

Jo Van Cutsem

L5-S1 ELDOA For Lower Back Pain
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Written by SolCoreFitness · Categorized: Blog, ELDOA, Semi Private Personal Training · Tagged: ELDOA, Lower Back Pain, NM, Personal trainer, Personal Training, Santa Fe, SolCore Fitness

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