What Shoes Tell You about Balance Problems (and Possible Back Pain)

I have a suggestion that will eat up 15 seconds of your day. That is not a bad deal, right? Better yet, what you discover in these 15 seconds will very likely reveal the actual reason for any balance issues (or back problems) you may currently be experiencing.

Convinced to do it? I hope so.

Examine how the heels of your shoes are wearing.  (OK. Maybe the task is a little longer than 15 seconds if you have to take off your shoes, but not much longer). If the heels of your shoes show more wear on the outside than inside, it probably means your hips are misaligned. Your balance will be compromised. Worse, your back may be screaming out in pain whenever you take a step.

I know just about as much as you do about hip misalignments. How do I know wearing on the heels of shoes tell all? In my earlier years I had severe back pain. My solution initially was to see a chiropractor. Did the chiropractor observe me walking so the problem could be evaluated? Nope! All he did was look at the bottom of my shoes.

Here is a picture of the shoes I wore at the time.

You probably first noticed that these shoes have not been polished.  Well, hey. I was focused on earning my PhD, not on making sure my shoes were polished.

What I want you to notice is the wearing on the outside half of the heels on both shoes. I was placing most of my weight on the outside edges of both feet when walking and running rather than the inside edges. Centered balance is achieved when we place more weight on the inside edges of our feet than the outside. The foot is built to withstand more weight there.

Years pass. Check out what the heels of my current shoes look like today.

First, notice that I wear shoes today that do not have to be polished. I still did not polish shoes after I finished graduate school so I now buy shoes that do not need polishing.

Second, notice that the wear on the bottom of the heels is more even – not perfect by any means – but a lot better than shown in the first image of shoes from graduate school days.

How does the wearing on the soles of my shoes “tell all” today?  I have no back pain.

In summary, if you are having balance problems, examine the heels of your shoes. The cause of the problem may well be rooted in a misalignment of your hips.

I have just developed a program that offers a wide variety of strategies, tips, suggestions, therapies and programs that bring hips back into perfect alignment. Click on the link below for the inside scoop on my new program.

http://www.parkinsonsdisease.me 

Many options exist to bring hip problems back into balance. If your hips are not in perfect alignment today (by inspecting wearing on the heels of your shoes) rest assured that you hips eagerly await your tender loving attention. They do not want to be out of balance any more that you do!

Robert Rodgers PhD
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease

P.S. A chiropractor did not solve my back problem. I figured it out all by myself.