The backbone or spine is the central musculoskeletal structure in your body, connecting various body parts. It helps your stand, sit, walk, bend, and twist while maintaining the range of motion. However, your lifestyle and activities can affect your spine negatively or positively.
For instance, if you fail to exercise and maintain a balanced diet, your spine will experience injuries, conditions, inflammation, pain, and other complications. Your feet play a critical role in supporting your entire body’s weight. Your feet also act as shock absorbers, primarily when walking or running. In addition, your feet maintain the alignment of your spine. So, when you choose shoes or footwear that don’t support or put pressure on your feet, you will experience misalignment in your spine. As a result, your spinal vertebrae will have inflammation, injuries, and other problems. According to our professional and board-certified chiropractor, subluxations, also known as misalignments, are a common cause of neck and back pain. Subluxations can also cause stiffness, spasms, muscle tension, and reduced range of motion in your spine Therefore, it is crucial to undergo chiropractic treatment, such as hands-on spinal manipulation, to improve vertebral alignment, reduce the risk of subluxations, and improve your overall health. Let us discuss the effects of footwear on your spine!
High Heels Effect on Your Spine
Wearing high heels is fashionable, but it can cause severe effects on your spine. A growing body of research evidence highlights that high heels can put pressure on the feet’s front part. Research shows that when a person wears high heel footwear of one inch, it increases the pressure by 22%. Likewise, a three-inch heel can increase pressure on the front of your foot by 76%. Bear in mind that high heels can also alter your posture due to the unnatural feet position. So this causes your lumbar spine to move forward and disturb its natural curve.
Discs are cushions between spinal vertebrae, keeping them firm and flexible. Discs absorb shock and avoid pressure on your spine’s musculoskeletal structures, including bones, joints, ligaments, etc. However, when you wear high heels regularly, you will experience complications in the discs, causing wear and tear and reducing the discs’ ability to absorb shocks.
Flip Flop Effects on Your Spine
Flip flops are popular footwear among men and women. Although high-end flip flops are reliable, they can still cause complications in your spine, particularly the thoracic and lumbar spine, when worn regularly.
Research studies highlight that flip-flops can severely affect a person’s gait, preventing them from walking normally. Changes in gait cause misalignment in your spine, lead to balance issues and contribute to spinal, hip, and knee pain.
If you want to reduce the risk of spinal complications, you must choose footwear carefully. At the same time, you must undergo regular chiropractic sessions to improve your spinal alignment. So, even if you wear flip flops frequently, chiropractic manipulation will reduce the risk of spinal problems.
Choosing the Right Footwear
Our chiropractor, with years of experience treating spinal pain, disc problems, and musculoskeletal issues, recommends that people choose the proper footwear that supports their spine. Here are a few tips from our professional chiropractor.
Choose Footwear with Lower Heels
We have already discussed how high heels can affect your spine. So, we recommend choosing or buying footwear with lower heels. Remember, the lower the heels, the better. The purpose is to lower the pressure on your feet and prevent spinal misalignments.
Avoid Flip Flops
Many men and women have an obsession with flip flops. Although flip flops are an excellent choice fashion-wise, they harm your spine and overall wellbeing. Therefore, we recommend avoiding flips flops and choosing comfortable footwear to reduce pressure on your muscles.
Choose Shoes with Cushions When you wear shoes with cushions, you will experience less fatigue, pressure, and pain in your feet, legs, and spine. Well-cushioned footwear can absorb shocks and keep your feet comfortable. When your feet feel comfortable, your spine will stay healthy and well-aligned with an improved range of motion and flexibility.
Final Words
A comfortable and well-cushioned pair of shoes or footwear improves your feet’s position, stability, and comfort levels, leading to enhanced posture and gait. Proper posture corrects spinal alignment and allows muscles in your spine to work efficiently.
At the same time, a good pair of shoes prevent strain on your spinal vertebrae and discs. Make sure you undergo chiropractic treatment if you want to create balance between your lifestyle, fashion, and spinal health.
Our chiropractor has years of experience using different techniques to improve spinal alignment, range of motion, and overall health to prevent back spasms, stiffness, and pain. Contact us
today for more information.