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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Could back pain be caused from my foot injury?

    Related Topic
    Sports Injuries & Prevention
    Could my sore back be related to when i sprained my foot playing soccer the other week?
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    Dr Michael Cohen

    Chiropractor

    Dr Michael Cohen, Chiropractor is co-founder of the Chirosports Group one of Australia's leading groups of Chiropractors working together since 1994. Dr Michael Cohen Chiropractor … View Profile

    In our Chiropractic clinic we see a number of soccer players as one of the clubs we look after is the Hakoah Soccer Club in Sydney.  It is very possible that an injury to your foot could lead to back pain, and there are many cases where this is common.

    When you injured your foot, it's possible that this event may have led to an imbalance in your posture, especially if you were unable to put your body weight on the injured foot.  If this occurred then your spine has possibly needed to compensate by unevenly distributing your body weight.  What can sometimes occur is that in this unnatural movement you may end up with a subluxation or lock in one of the joints in your spine or a strained muscle.  This lock can reduce nerve supply and may be the cause of your back pain.

    Your body is a highly efficient interconnected machine.  It is all connected so injuries in one area will commonly cause pain in other areas through a change in function, or through referred pain.  Injuries to the legs, feet and pelvis may lead to back pain.

    I would suggest seeing your team Dr or visiting a Chiropractor who looks after sporting injuries. 

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    Jane Watson

    Physiotherapist

    Jane Watson is a leading physiotherapist based in the Upper North Shore servicing locations like Wahroonga, Pymble, Turramurra, Gordon, Thornleigh and surrounding suburbs. Jane's approach … View Profile

    Yes, it could. If the injury in the foot is causing the person to walk in an unnatural manner, or if it is causing the person to sit for longer periods than normal.

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    Mark Brown

    Physiotherapist

    Mark is an APA Sports Physiotherapist with over 25 years experience with a special interest and expertise in performance enhancement and injury prevention. View Profile

    It’s possible that your back pain could be an indirect result of your foot injury. Any changes to your walking can cause other changes throughout the body. If this persists for too long you can also develop bad movement habits so it’s important to get your foot injury fixed as well as have your back properly assessed. It could also be that your back pain is unrelated to your foot injury and that the timing is coincidental as back pain is a common condition that doesn’t always start as a result of a specific injury. In either case an assessment by a Physiotherapist will be able to determine the origin of the back pain as well as provide a treatment plan for both your foot injury and back pain.  

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    Edward Clark

    Osteopath

    Edward is a registered Osteopath with clinical experience both in Sydney, Australia and in the U.K. Has has previosly held senior academic positions teaching Osteopathy … View Profile

    From an osteopathic perspective, it's definitely possible that the foot injury can be contributing to a back problem. There are a number of relevant things you have to consider such as the nature of the back problem, how long it's been plaguing you for, the extent of the foot injury and what part of the foot you injured. As osteopaths, we generally look for signs where the bio-mechanical function of the foot, knee or hip might not be quite what it should be. That increases the strain that other parts of your body bear when moving and walking around. So, particularly if you're an active person and like to play sports and do vigorous activity, that will increase your risk profile of a foot injury contributing to a back problem.

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    Ashlee Nash

    Physiotherapist

    I completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Newcastle in 2009. I have worked for Mitchell Physiotherapy since this time with an emphasis … View Profile

    If you have not had back pain previously, if this is a new pain after the ankle sprain then it may well be from the ankle sprain. Purely because you have probably been limping around and loading joints in different ways that they are not used to, and you may have tightened things up.

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