No one deserves to live with chronic pain. A constant aching throb that never goes away. Drugs hardly solve the problem, and while exercises can help, there is usually an underlying cause that must be tackled.
But before we get to the cause, what is chronic pain?
Chronic pain is persistent or intermittent pain that lasts longer than three months. It can affect any part of the body, but in this article, we will be focusing on chronic pain that affects the neck, back or knee. Chronic pain sucks, and you do not deserve to suffer through it. Yet, 70% of Nigerians struggle with low back pain. So, if you suffer from chronic pain, you are not alone.
You probably use painkillers frequently if you struggle with low back pain. But, painkillers often offer temporary relief.
This is because, chronic pain is often a result of the interplay between your posture, body structure, habits, and physical activity.
In this article, we will focus on one aspect of your body structure- Your feet.
Let’s meet your feet
Your feet are the foundation of your body.
They bear the pressure of your weight, and like any foundation, they must be in good shape to do their work well. Just like a faulty foundation can damage or lead to the collapse of a building, unstable feet can damage your body.
How your feet can affect your posture
Your feet carry your entire weight, and that weight is dynamic. Each time you walk, run, jog, jump or skip, you hit the ground with more force than your actual weight. That extra weight is absorbed by your feet.
They do this through the help of your foot arches – 3 arches that exist in each foot. The arches are supported by 26 bones and 33 joints, along with ligaments, tendons, and muscles.
The three arches of the foot are:
- Medial longitudinal arch
- Lateral longitudinal arch
- Anterior transverse arch
These arches help to:
- Distribute your weight to the weight-bearing aspects of your sole
- Act as shock absorbers during movement
- Provide propulsive force during motion.
Unfortunately, as you grow older, your foot arches tend to collapse under the weight of constant use, weight gain and other causes. Some of these causes include obesity, pregnancy, ageing, diabetes, or repetitive trauma such as pounding your feet against a hard surface. As a result, you may end up with flat and overpronated feet.
In essence, your weight is unevenly distributed, and your feet become unstable.
Flat feet and overpronation may not cause you any trouble at first, but you can develop pain in your feet, knee, hip or back over time due to the improper posture of your legs and back. The importance of having a proper posture cannot be overemphasized, so we have come up with a way to solve this problem.
Here’s how chronic pain & poor posture can be resolved:
Luckily, your feet and posture can be analyzed through a simple, non-invasive test – a 3D foot scan.
It only takes 10 minutes, after which you get a Pronation Stability Index (PSI) score that measures the amount of collapse of your foot arches.
Based on your PSI, and the analysis of your posture and joints, recommendations are given, and you can take definitive action to end the chronic pain.
You can book your foot scan here.
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