Toes Hurt? Could Be A Back Issue.

Did you know a foot issue could be a back issue?

As we get older, many older women start to develop lower back issues, sometimes with pain in their lower back. However some back issues develop but without any pain in the back like mine.

I have had various back issues over the years and I wanted to give you the benefit of my experience. 

I'm not a doctor or a physical therapist but I’m sharing what worked for me.

I’m a woman in my 50s now experiencing lower back issues without any back pain.

If you prefer to hear me talk about this on YouTube, you can find it here.

My first symptom was I started to have funny feelings in my foot, just one foot.

My right foot started to feel a little strange especially my toes.

I had a nagging aching pain in my toes. It felt almost like somebody was pinching my toes.

I didn't have tingling or numbness or anything like that.

I just had a funny pinching feeling in my toes.

I was a bit confused as I didn't know what that could possibly be. I thought maybe there was something wrong with my foot.

So I went to a doctor who said that it was probably something going on with my lower back and she sent me to a physical therapist. 

The physical therapist said that there could be a nerve pressing on a disc which was causing my symptoms in my feet. Go figure!  

I didn’t have an MRI to confirm this but the physical therapist was fairly confident that this was what was going on.

There are quite a variety of symptoms that can show up when you have disc issues in your lower back. You can have sciatica, you can have pain going down your legs and into your calves and feet and toes.

My symptoms were pretty subtle. I just felt this pinching feeling in my toes.

It was surprising to me that a strange feeling in my toes could be a lower back issue.

I started working with my physical therapist who focused mainly on strengthening my core muscles, especially my lower abs - my transverse abdominis. It turns out I was not engaging this muscle properly even though I thought I was.

Your transverse abdominis is a deep layer of core muscle that you really have to focus on to engage effectively.

We also experimented with various types of back bends, what I call cobras in yoga.

As I was only having symptoms in one foot, my protocol involved variations of cobras, not just the straight up and down one.

It was a process of trial and error to see what worked and what didn't work.

Almost immediately, I started feeling a lot better.

I went to physical therapy for about six weeks and then continued to do the exercises at home.

To this day, I continue to manage my back issues with my prescribed exercises.

I try and make myself do my cobras pretty much every day for a few minutes.

I really try to be super careful with my posture.

I engage my core as much as I can because managing a back issue especially a lower back issue has a lot to do with engaging and strengthening your core.

I would add stretching your back in a safe way is important too especially if you sit a lot. 

To me it was interesting that a back issue could show up as a foot issue.

If you’re suffering from lower back issues, I want to encourage you that you can manage them with exercises/stretching/yoga but be guided by a physical therapist.

Let them find a protocol that works for you and then be disciplined to do it. It works in many cases!

 It’s also important to not sit for too long as I talked about here - I gave five tips to keep your spine healthy.

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