If you are experiencing back pain, then you are probably searching for possible causes of your condition. Here is a surprising question for you: have you looked at your shoes lately?

Did you know that your feet and shoes can actually cause back pain? How, you ask? Well, if you likened your body to a building, your feet would be the foundation. Therefore, if your feet are mechanically unsound, then your spine and the other structures of your body can be thrown into misalignment. As a result, you will often experience back pain along with other body aches and pains.

Wearing the wrong kind of shoes can cause your feet to become mechanically unsound, thus leading to the corresponding problems. And if you already have mechanically unsound feet to begin with, wearing shoes that do not provide the necessary support will only aggravate the problem. Take high heels, for example. While this type of shoes may make women look more attractive, they can also throw your spine off its normal alignment. As a result, the centre of gravity is changed as well and your lower back is subjected to additional pressure.

Taking this into account, it is therefore a lot better for you to stick to low heels if you really want to take care of your back. With “low” we mean not going beyond two inches. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t wear your stilettos once in a while, but be sure to restrict the wearing of such shoes to occasions where you don’t have to stay on your feet for too long. If you have to wear heels to work, then you would do well to wear sneakers as you commute to your workplace and then just switch to your heels when you get there.

If high heels are bad for your back, you may think that wearing flat shoes or flip flops are better alternatives. That’s not necessarily true. Flats and flip flops lack the necessary support, which means that wearing them for long periods can also lead to stress and strain on your tendons and joints. Limit your wearing of flip flops to the beach or the pool and remember that they are not for walking long distances.

Your best bet for ensuring back health is to wear sneakers or any type of shoes that provide a rigid heel counter as well as a rigid midsole that can provide you with the right amount of support. Take note as well that shoes with laces provide better support than loafers or those with Velcro straps. Shoes with good shock absorption are also recommended for relief from and prevention of back pain.

So, the next time you experience back pain and your doctor can’t identify the cause within your back itself, you may want to have him check your feet as well. Making sure that your feet are mechanically sound and that you are wearing the right type of footwear could hold the key to saving you from a lifetime of back pain.

Ed Delaney has used back support. To see if a back support cushion could help you ease back pain and to learn more please visit: http://backsupportcushion.co.uk