I was reading in the New York Times about back pain and walking. Is it true? Is it true that I have been walking for 40 years now, and I might not know how to walk? Who can teach me to walk?

The body is a machine. The article that you discussed above mentions that if you have a flat tire, your machine (car) won't work. But, if you have a foot that doesn't move correctly, your machine (body) is able to compensate and it can result in back pain. The body has the ability to accommodate forces ... forces that are good or bad. If the foot doesn't move correctly, the forces that the foot accommodates are shifted elsewhere. Those forces can be transferred to the low back and cause excessive motion, excessive compression, etc. A physical therapist is trained in the ability to examine how you walk and all of the joints that are involved in walking including your foot, ankle, knee, hip, pelvis, and low back and determine the area or areas that are moving too much or not moving enough. Once the a potential culprit related to the low back pain is identified, we stretch tight muscle, move joints that don't move, stabilize areas that move too much and put you back together so all parts work in unison and to create a well-balanced and efficient machine.

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