What Does My Big Toe Have to Do With My Back Pain?




All right guys, what’s up?! It’s Stephen Dunn of CORE Therapy and Pilates in Austin, Texas.

I have Alexis here with me today, and what we are going to do is talk a little bit about the foot, particularly the big toe.

Recently, I have had several patients coming in and they’re having trouble with the extension of their great toe and they don’t have enough extension of their great toe. You need 90 degrees extension of your great toe. That’s the range we need.

What happens if you’re lacking that degree of motion? What you’re going to end up doing is pushing. You’re not going to have the range to push off enough and you’re going to end up picking your foot up too soon. And it’s going to affect your gait, the way you walk and the way your body is going to compensate for it.

If you’re having some problems and you notice you have a bunion and your big toe is limited, comment “Bunion” below and we’ll get some information to you on how we can help you with that.

So, that’s what we’ve got for you today! I hope all is well!

Sign up for a free discovery session with us here and we’ll help fix your feet.

Co-Owner / Physical Therapist at CORE Therapy and Pilates
Stephen graduated with a Masters in Physical Therapy in 1998 from LSUMC in New Orleans and is a licensed physical therapist in Texas since 2004. Immediately interested in hands-on therapy, he began to study with Brian Mulligan and became certified in the Maitland Australian Approach in 2003. Stephen has since studied the fascial system through John F Barnes Myofascial Release. Stephen completed a comprehensive Pilates training in 2002 and the GYROTONIC Expansion System® in 2009. The combined treatment of manual therapy with mind-body awareness exercises using Pilates and Gyrotonic concepts was the start of his whole-body treatment approach.
Stephen Dunn