Arch supports for back pain provide a simple solution for people who suffer from flat feet back pain. Arch supports are widely utilized in the podiatric sector of medicine to treat a full range of foot pain syndromes. However, arch supports are being increasingly used by patients with ankle, knee, hip and back pain syndromes, since they have been convinced that the root cause of their suffering resides at ground level.
Arch supports range in quality, availability and price. These products provide some unique advantages over many other back pain therapies, but also entail some specific risks that many patients do not plan for. Although holistic in practice, the use of arch supports has generated some very mixed results in the patient population and is therefore still a highly debated option for back pain care.
This dissertation delves into the use of arch supports for treating back pain. We will explain why arch supports might be useful for relieving pain and even curing its root source, as well as some lesser known negative attributes of these orthotic products that all patients must know before using these devices.
Arch Supports for Back Pain Theory
Arch supports seem like a strange treatment choice for back pain, but this is only because some patients do not understand the concept of “ground-up” dorsalgia. This theory states that fallen arches, and the excessive pronation of the feet caused, incite dramatic changes in form and function throughout the body. These changes can occur in the major leg joints, the sacroiliac joint and the spine.
When flat feet are deemed responsible for back pain, patients are faced with 2 choices. They can utilize symptom-based care to target the tissues of the back in an effort to provide relief or they can seek to cure the underlying causation by correcting their flat feet. Arch supports can provide that type of curative intervention by resolving over pronation at least while the patient uses the orthotics during daily life.
Arch Supports for Back Pain Benefits
When flat feet are the actual source of pain, using arch supports is logical and effective. These simple orthotics are placed inside any shoes and correct the flat foot shape by creating an arch where none is organically present. In essence, the supports reshape the bottom of the foot to mimic that of a typical arched foot. When the diagnosis of fallen arches back pain is correct, addressing the causative issue at foot level should bring complete amelioration of pain in a short timeline.
Arch supports are not overly expensive, can not really break and should last a lifetime under normal use. Best of all, they can be removed and placed in different shoes, allowing the patient to get the most use from them not matter what choice of footwear is made.
Arch supports might also provide collateral benefits in terms of reduced foot, ankle, knee and hip pain for patients who also suffer these conditions as a result of their flat feet.
Arch supports are nonpharmaceutical and nonsurgical, providing enlightened, holistic care for flat foot concerns.
Arch Supports Limitations and Risks
Not all characteristics of arch supports are positive. In fact, there are some dark sides to their use that every patient needs to consider before applying them to treat flat-foot related back pain:
The diagnosis of flat footed back pain stands a very good chance of being incorrect. Many of these conditions are misdiagnosed and therefore will lead to disappointing results treating foot issues when the true source resides elsewhere.
Arch supports actually create pain in many patients. Some patients are truly suffering from pain as a result of their flat feet, but have built-up a certain degree of compensation organically. Other patients are misdiagnosed as noted above. The introduction of arch supports objectively changes stance and gait, potentially in negative and even pathological ways. Although the body is likely to acclimate to the orthotics over time, patients might experience exacerbated pain that may become very severe during the first days, weeks or even months of use.
Very infrequently, it is possible to suffer a lasting injury as a direct result of the use of arch supports, especially then the body has become completely acclimated to having flat feet. Most often, these injuries affect the piriformis muscle and might result in piriformis syndrome. In other cases, injurious changes may result in the lumbar or even cervical lordosis, as well as in pathological pelvic tilting.
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