The first thing to do is to see a doctor. Unfortunately, some back pain is caused by things such as kidney problems etc. The good news is that the vast majority of back pain (apart from genetic birth defects, organ problems etc is caused by muscle imbalances.
What needs to be determined is whether your foot and back problems are related. There are three main situations:
1. Your foot problem and your back problem have nothing to do with each other. In other words, your foot problem has not caused your back problem and your back problem has not caused your foot problem.
2. Your foot problem has caused your back problem (without going into details, tight tissues in the leg/foot can cause a chain of events which lead all the way up to your neck).
3. Your back problem has caused your foot problem.
In order to determine what is going on, you need a good therapist to analyze how you stand and walk. I’ll give you some info on that in a minute.
Flat feet are nearly always caused by a little known or treated muscle called the “peroneus longus”
http://www.realbodywork.com/learn/ankle/peroneus.JPG
http://reflexologysuccess.com/reflexolo ... /flat-feet
It runs up and down the outside of your lower leg. If you look at the picture, your first reaction might be “Well, if that muscle tightens, it will cause the foot to become more arched, not less arched”. What you cannot see from the picture is how the end of that muscle attaches to the bottom of the foot and how other tissues attach to it. When that guy gets tight, it pulls in such a way that the foot becomes flatter. The key is to release that muscle. I have seen this done successfully on a large number of people who wanted to join the forces, police etc, as well as serving members whose feet have become “flatter”.
Hughie Morris is a good lad. Ex bootie and based in the UK. Give him a call. Tell him Dave the Jock spoke to you. Hughie uses an excellent stretching technique invented by Aaron Mattes in the US:
Stretching GB
Hughie J. Morris
21 Eton Rd.
Harlington
Middlesex UB3 5HR
Tel: 020 8897 0377
Mobile: 07984 005366
Email:
info@stretchinggb.com
Web:
http://www.stretchinggb.com
The guy who fixed my back and foot problems is called Al Meilus (
http://www.meilus.com). He literally saved my life. If you want to talk to him, call (US) 1-727-547-1233 (if he’s not in, he will call you back for free). Al has Skype and a camera and can check you out for free. My next door neighbor is an ex-para, ex 13 PARA(Salford) and 1 PARA. He’s going down to see Al after being in a car crash. Al treats a lot of SF guys who have just come back from deployment. The lad in the first part of the following video ( ex-airborne) had some really bad foot and ankle injuries (including pins) after someone jumped into a trench and landed on his leg. He’s now a pro-golfer. Al has a clinic in Provence in France, but I think Hughie should be able to help you in the UK.
http://meilus.com/Videos/VideoPlayer/Ta ... onies.aspx
http://www.meilus.com/ContactUs/tabid/405/Default.aspx
I was completely crippled for six months and had many foot problems when I had to learn to walk again. I have learned to treat my own peroneus by using pressure from my thumbs, but that takes a little doing.
The more you know how your body works, the better. I always recommend to people to start off with this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Egoscue-Method- ... 441&sr=8-1
Have a shufti at the comments at the bottom.
Pete Egoscue was a US Marine officer in Vietnam who, like me, was told he’d never walk again. Chapter 2 “Function Junction” contains a lot of good diagrams.
As far as pain relief is concerned, medications can help, but there are some natural things that you may want to try first. Most of them just help to “take the edge” off the pain. The problem with long term use of prescription pain killers is that many have side-effects. I was shoving hydrocodone down my throat like sweeties when I had my spinal injuries. Due to internal problems caused by it, I had to stop taking it “cold turkey”. That was very unpleasant.
Usually anything containing “passion flower” (not that meaning) and “valerian root” can help ease inflammation and muscle tightness. The problem is that they tend to either work or not work at all. You just have to try it out. Again just check with your doc before taking them. A health food store is a good place to check first.
The yanks sell a very good product called “Heal N’Soothe”. All natural, contains a lot of anti-inflammatories. Problem is that, again, it tends to either work or not work, and is pricey. I use it and have had good results.
https://www.losethebackpain.com/tryhealnsoothe.html
If you want to, drop me a PM. I’m on Skype if you feel like a chat.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to live like that for the rest of your life. Have determination and read as much as you can about your condition. “Knowledge Dispels Fear”, but it also empowers you to help yourself. Four and a half years ago I had spinal and leg and foot injuries so severe that I was told by “experts” that I had zero chance of walking again and that if I didn’t get used to the idea of being in a wheelchair that “it would be all the worse for me psychologically” on the day that I was eventually put in one. I refused to accept that and spend thousands of hours studying bio-mechanics and anatomy until I discovered that all the doctors had missed a small but very important spinal joint which had been dislocated and almost destroyed me. That and some wonderful therapists have given me my life back. I still have aches and pains but nothing much. I can walk, swim etc and am leading a pretty normal life now.
Good Luck
Dave
