Lower Back Pain is a common complaint among many people. The lower back carries most of your weight, so you can see why. The first most common cause of back pain is a muscle strain or a sprain to a ligament. These strains and sprains can occur from a few reasons.

• Lifting heavy objects improperly
• Being overweight
• Sitting or standing improperly (poor posture)
• Osteoarthritis - which occurs over time and is also known as “Wear and Tear Arthritis”
• Injury

There are many other causes of Low Back Pain, however these are the most common.

The key is when a client comes into your office and complains of lower back pain there a few things that should be checked first. The first question, of course, is if they hurt themselves at sports, running, walking, working or whatever. If they didn't, then these are some other causes you may want to eliminate before you start treatment.

What do they do for a living? Do they sit all day, do they lift heavy objects, play sports, etc. This usually is the main cause of their lower back pain.

If you are sure that their occupation is not the cause, you may want to look at what type of shoes they are wearing, look at their feet (for bunions, calluses, tell tale signs) and how they walk. It all starts at the foot when you walk. The way you walk could be a cause to Pain in Lower Back, since everything is connected. Then there is PRONATION. Pronation is caused by how the foot rolls in as the foot drops. This is a normal process, but if the foot rolls in too much or if there is another movement involved while it rolls in like pushing from the ball of their foot, this can cause pain in the foot all the way up to their lower back. Looking at their shoes is usually a dead giveaway, since they wear out abnormally by the inner part by the toe area and by the ball of their foot. If they are not wearing their normal shoes, you may want to have them bring in the shoes they normally wear.

If it looks like they have Pronation, the shoes themselves could be the cause. Too much padding or soles that curve at the arch too much can be the cause of Pronation. The other shoe culprit, for women anyway, is “High Heels”. This is a definite giveaway also.