When you read this title on back pain relief, the first thing that jumps into most minds is working on muscles and possibly joints.
The last thing is looking at your feet...
Why?
Most people believe that because pain is located in your spine, which is where the problems lie. Although this is NOT correct, it is also not your fault to think this way.
Most therapies (medical and non-medical) tell you constantly that your pain is where your problem is. That it must be the joint or muscle in that region - they are tight and sore and hence that is why pain is occurring.
In one way they are right - there will be local tightness of muscles and joints that create your pain - but this is NOT the only area of concern.
Your spine works as an entire system. Just think of how you walk - your left leg and right arm move in unison. When you bend to touch your toes - all your spine moves. The same with all movement...
So when you have pain (no matter where it is) it surely is an entire structural system event ... that starts in your toes and finishes at the top of your head.
This is why the back pain relief statistics are so poor ....
Did you know only 25% of those in pain now will be pain free in one year. The rest are worse or just the same as you are now.
The reason this is poor is most practitioners and self-help gurus only look at your pain as segmental... only looking at the area of pain ... only looking at muscular balances ... only looking at joints.
There are not many that look at the entire system ... and very few that look at your feet.
Why do I mention feet?
Your feet are the link from you to the ground. If they work correctly and the proprioception responses (your position in space sense) are operating ... your balance is better and your spine in more alignment.
There is a simple way to test if your feet are working and these neural senses working well.
Simply stand on with feet shoulder width apart and then raise one leg so your foot is off the ground and about knee height. Then close your eyes ...
You should be able to stand there with eyes closed for at least 30 seconds without wobbling too much or falling over. Then repeat this for the other foot.
You should also be the same on both feet...
If you find you can't stand for 30 seconds or if one foot is a lot worse than the other ... you have a foot-brain balance issue and there will be both joints and muscles in your spine out of balance.
A simple test that helps with your back pain relief efforts ... to look at all the causes of your pain.
If you want complete back pain relief you must remove all the causes of your pain.