Aug 6, 2008 5:45 pm US/Eastern
"Gait" Testing Helping Identify Cause Of Back Pain
(KDKA)
If you have back or neck pain, you probably think it is being caused by problems with your neck or back.
But did you know that a lot of back pain is caused by your feet, specifically the shoes you wear and the way you walk.
As podiatrist Kathya Zinszer explains it, "That old saying where the foot bone's connected to the knee bone, and just say you know, what goes on in the lower extremity in the feet really affects the proximal joints."
It's why Zinszer and other podiatrists have begun using what's called "gait" testing to determine if walking or shoe problems are causing a patient's back pain. The technology uses sophisticated sensors to measure the pressure points in each step.
"Here we can actually see what's going on biomechanically, where the high pressures are and what could actually cause breakdowns for people at high risk or people just wearing shoes that are inappropriately fitted for their foot type," says Zinszer.
Doctors can also track the motion of the joints and the gravitational pull on the body.
"If this is thousands and thousands of steps, this is going to affect the way the knee is actually worn down in the cartilage," says Zinszer. "It's also going to affect the pressure on the lower back."
Zinszer's patient Katie D'Angelo was surprised that problems with her shoes were causing her back pain.
"This has been a little bit eye-opening in terms of people suggesting maybe you should give this some consideration," said D'Angelo.
In D'Angelo's case, new shoes with custom orthotics helped get rid of her pain.
Zinszer says she recommends this for many of her patients.
"You need to wear a shoe that has some arch support. You need some shock absorption. You need to stretch that plantar fascia and you have to get rid of wearing the flip-flops or the flat shoes that are causing and exacerbating this problem."
Patients interested in having a gait analysis should talk with their chiropractor, and check to make sure insurance covers it. Gait testing can cost between $500 and $2,000.
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