When patients ask ‘Can standing on your feet all day cause back pain,’ educate them how opioids can take them down the wrong path, and how Foot Levelers custom orthotics are clinically proven to reduce low back pain
A recent study in the Lancet Medical Journal found that back pain treatment is being mismanaged across the world. Can standing on your feet all day cause back pain, and are your patients standing on their back pain? In 2009, a study found that opioids, which kill 35,000 people each year, were prescribed to 60% of patients who visit the emergency department due to low back pain.1
“The burden from low back pain has reached a tipping point where the condition is growing rapidly, is poorly understood and is being mismanaged medically,” said Dr. Rachelle Buchbinder, a professor who helped spearhead the study. With over 93 people per day dying from an opioid overdose, and 70% of those people being prescribed opioids for back pain, it is important to realize that there is a research-backed treatment proven to significantly reduce lower back pain.2
The Lancet study also states that it’s hard to find a specific cause of low back pain. Unfortunately, the source of the pain is hard to pinpoint because most doctors do not look to the feet as the origin of pain and fail to assess the body’s entire biomechanical structure.
Can standing on your feet all day cause back pain? With patients, start from the ground up
Most chronic low back pain is due to some form of musculoskeletal weakness or structural imbalance. The root cause is often an imbalance in one or both feet that eventually contribute to health concerns farther up the kinetic chain, especially back pain conditions.
When we stand, walk, or run, the lumbar spine and pelvis balance on the lower extremities. This means that normal foot mechanics can adversely influence the normal functions of the ankle, knee, hip, and even the back.3 Dr. George Sheehan states that structural imbalance of even minor degrees can result in incapacitating injuries and persistent disabilities.4
There is hope. A 2017 study published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation proved that Foot Levelers custom-made foot orthotics reduce low back pain. Taking part in the study were 225 adults with symptomatic low back pain. At six weeks, patients who received Foot Levelers custom-made orthotics realized a 34.5% decrease in low back pain.
The drug-free approach for low back pain
Treatment of musculoskeletal conditions is the number one cost in U.S. health care today.
“Low back pain is one of the most common reasons cited for missed work and the NIH study confirms more than one-quarter of adults reported low back pain during the past three months,” said Manuel Duarte, DC, MSAc, DABCO, and DACBSP, chair of clinical practice at National University, (Lombard, Illinois) and one of the study’s lead researchers. “Most alarming is the link between low back pain and the deadly opioid epidemic, a challenge that is effectively addressed when Foot Levelers custom orthotics and drug-free chiropractic care are the first-line approach for low back pain management.”
Melanie Slaughter, a sheriff’s deputy in Roanoke, Va., was a patient who suffered from low back pain. Like millions of others, she was prescribed opioids. And they didn’t work.
“I feel, for me, the (opioids) made me sick. I know they can also be addictive, and they don’t fix the problem. And that’s the bottom line. They need to address the structural issue, or whatever that might be going on that’s causing the back pain,” Slaughter said. “If anyone were ever to come and ask me, if they were having the back pain that I had, I would recommend that they try chiropractic and try Foot Levelers. I’m a firm believer that between the chiropractic and Foot Levelers, they can fix whatever is going on structurally and get rid of the pain.”
Almost 70 years of supporting chiropractic care
Foot Levelers CEO Kent Greenawalt says his company, which has been in business for 69 years, has helped countless patients suffering from low back pain.
“There is significant scientific evidence that explains the foot-spine connection, but the bottom line is that using Foot Levelers to balance and support the feet – the foundation of the body – helps balance and support the spine,” Greenawalt said.
According to Lancet, in 2015, it was calculated that 540 million people are affected by low back pain at any one time. When asked, ‘Can standing on your feet all day cause back pain?’ the answer is yes, but it doesn’t have to. For many, low back pain is a reoccurring problem. Action is needed to address this global epidemic.
It’s time providers stop turning to ineffective and useless treatments of the symptoms and start looking to solve the true causes of chronic lower back pain. Clinical research shows that Foot Levelers custom orthotics are the answer. They are proven to be a safe and cost-effective treatment of low back pain. To learn more visit www.FootLevelers.com.
For your copy of the randomized controlled trial utilizing Foot Levelers custom orthotics visit http://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(17)30262-9/pdf.
References
- Fox, M. (2018, March 18). “Low Back Pain the Top Cause of Disability, Gets Wrong Treatments.” Retrieved from http://nbcnews.com
- Al-Muslim, A. & Whalen, J. (2017, Dec 1). “FDA Approves Monthly Injection for Opioid Addiction.” Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com
- Katoh Y et al. Biomechanical analysis of foot function during gait and clinical applications. Clin Orthop Rel Res1983; 177:23-33.
- Sheehan, G. (1975). Sheehan on running. Mountain View, CA: World Publications.
